Side-By-Side
by CuppaTea13
Summary: Lillian O'Connell was born fighting. Or at least, that's what her brother Rick always told her. He also told her that her eyes would turn orange if she ate too many carrots up until she was eleven, so Lillian isn't sure how reliable a source her older brother actually is. Whether or not she was born fighting, she certainly lived her life in that manner.
1. The French Foreign Legionnaire

_New story! I know- I know, I'm embarrassed because I have no self control and wrote this all out when I should've been studying or working on one of my stories that are already in progress, but, like I said- no self-control. Regardless, I did a trope- Rick's sister. I apologize, but I wanted to do my own because reasons._

* * *

_The sand was, for the moment, still, as no one dared move and the wind, as if in some sympathetic magic, held its breath with the garrison crouched along a low sand wall in some mockery of protection. The soldiers were engaged in various activities- staring at the sand, checking their weapons, praying to whatever god they believed in. Their second line was positioned at the top of the city's walls, about a hundred fifty feet behind them. But being on anything other than the front line was not something Rick O'Connell was familiar with, and so there they were._

"_Rick," a voice said lowly, whispering as the man checked his weapons with efficiency and then stared out at the dessert sand as if in challenge._

"_Yeah?" he whispered back. Even O'Connell, a man with little tack and even less care to gain it, was hushed by the air of anticipation._

"_You and me. Side by side."_

"_Of damn course," he said with a nod, eyes still on the desert stretched out before them._

"_But if I die, I'm coming for you."_

_Rick just smirked before repeating, "Of damn course."_

_With that, the silence was over. Cries came as the opposing army rode, ever faster, towards their garrison._

"_This doesn't look good," the soldier on the left commented, as if discussing the weather._

"_Maybe we should run," Beni Gabor, a fellow Legionnaire, directed to the soldier, speaking around Rick O'Connell, who looked vaguely amused._

"_Beni," was the reply, "Gimme your revolver, you're not going to use it."_

_Beni handed it over, "We could pretend to be dead- no one would bother us."_

"_Now gimme your bandolier," the voice was perfectly even._

_Beni handed over the item, including all the ammunition stored on it, Rick O'Connell merely watching the pass, one eyebrow raised._

"_There are plenty of hidden places in this city we could hide- I found some yesterday," Beni continued._

"_Now I need a stick about yea long," the soldier continued, indicating a distance about the length of their rifles._

"_A stick?" Beni asked, "What for?"_

"_To tie to your back since you're missing a spine," was the hissed reply._

_Eyes looked towards their Colonel, who, face pale, threw his sword into the sand as his horse fidgeted._

_He then turn and ran._

_Three faces turned to look at each other in disbelief._

"_You just got prompted," Beni said to O'Connell._

_Lillian O'Connell, disguised as Lewis O'Donnell, just snorted, "Couldn't happen to a better guy," as her brother turned to face the oncoming Tuareg horsemen._

"_Prenez vos positions!" O'Connell shouted, aiming his rifle._

"_Steady!" he yelled as the horsemen draw closer, shouting their battle cries._

"_You're with me on this one, right?" Rick muttered, eyes still on the opposing warriors._

"_Oh, your strength gives me strength," Beni replied, his voice ringing with anything but truth._

"_Steady!" Rick shouted again as they get nearer. And nearer. The soldiers held steady, but Lillian could see a few twitching out of the corner of her eyes- nerves getting to the men._

_Nerves that evidently got the best of Beni, who turned and began to run, dropping his rifle into the sand. "Wait for me!" he shouted at the long-gone Colonel._

_Rick rolled his eyes, "Steady!" he cried again._

_The horsemen were practically on top of them down, the horse's legs pumping, their riders shouting and swinging their scimitars in the air. The French Foreign Legionnaires looked to Rick O'Connell._

_There is a pause of a single heartbeat, before the American shouted, "FIRE!"_

_The next moments were a blur as the siblings shot, reloaded, and tried to hold the garrison together. The screams of men and horses were heard as round after round was shot. Spotting one soldier taking careful aim at her brother, Lillian fired a straight shot to the head, while her brother continued his own sharp-shooting._

_That's when it all went to hell- a second front of horsemen came from their right side, and Legionnaires from both the front and second lines began to fall._

_The siblings stood, still shooting, and began to lead their line back, step by step, firing upon the Tuareg._

_Horses jumped over the small wall with sharp cries as their riders began to cut down the Legionnaires with their scimitars._

_The O'Connells kept firing, occasionally using the butts of their rifles to knock down any opponents who came too close._

_As Rick was reloading one Tuareg soldier, now on foot, came running towards him, battle cry sharp as the sand was kicked up and blinding both sides alike. Rick struggled to get his rifle loaded as the man came closer and closer, sword raised._

_A sharp report fired and the man dropped, blood on his turban showing a bullet had lodged itself in his brain._

_Rick turned and exchanged a nod with his sister, who still held Beni's smoking pistol, before getting back to work._

_Rick was out of rifle bullets, and seemingly out of Legionnaires, when he dropped the rifle and picked up his pistols, firing upon their opponents who were driving him and his sister further and further into the dead city._

_They leapt over one crumbling wall to see Beni, still fleeing the battle, who turned at that moment to see them both racing to higher ground._

"_Run, Beni, run!" Rick shouted at the man, giving him warning._

_Beni ran._

"_Get inside! Get inside!" Rick continued to shout as Beni lead them on, straight to a doorway of the city's crumbling ruins, and then he began to shut the door._

"_Beni!" both siblings shouted in annoyance._

"_Don't you close that door! Don't you close that door!" Rick shouted, reminding Lillian of all the times he had scolded her growing up. It was odd to hear him use that tone of voice on someone else._

_Beni closed it._

"_Damn," Lillian cursed, as she and Rick slammed into the door, unable to stop themselves fully due to the speed they were running._

_She looked around before dashing off again, "C'mon!" she shouted to her brother, leading him further into the city as bullets continued to rain down on them._

_After leaping over a column, Rick dropped his final pistol. He would've reached for it, but the bullets fired at the lost gun made that option unattractive, so the siblings continued to run, looking for any place they could use to survive._

_Coming around a corner, they realized they were being herded as another group of horsemen came around the opposite bend. They dashed to the right, no idea where they were going, until they reached the end._

_There was nowhere else to run. Nowhere to hide. Just a tall statue, half buried in the sand, of the ancient god Anubis, standing watch over them with his jackal-head._

"_Well crap, there's irony for you" Lillian said, standing beside her brother as both panted from the running._

_The siblings stood tall, staring into the eyes of the horsemen turned firing squad._

"_You and me," Lillian said one more time, "Side by side."_

"_Of damn course," Rick replied, eyes still on the horsemen._

"_But if I die, I'm coming for you."_

"_Of damn course."_

_With that final exchange the O'Connells closed their eyes, waiting for the bullets that would end their fight._

_The horses suddenly went into a frenzy, and the riders, rifles still cocked for the O'Connell siblings, turned and fled._

_The two remaining opened their eyes cautiously._

"_Well, I don't see Douglas Fairbanks, so I don't think we're dead."_

_Rick just shot his sister a look. "What the hell is goin' on here?" he murmured, looking around._

_A voice drifted on the air, haunting, deep, speaking words neither sibling could understand or quite catch._

_They turned to study the statue, whose head was just hovering above their own, and heard what sounded like jackals yelping around them._

_Voices on the wind._

"_Whoa!" both Americans cried as the sand began to move and swirl around them with the jackals' cries._

_They stumbled away from the statue, both struggling to run in the shifting sands, as a deep moan sounded behind them._

_Not turning back, they ran towards the bodies of their dead compatriots._

_They wandered into the desert, nowhere else to go, but sure that the city behind them was nowhere they'd want to be. Their foes were long gone, disappeared into the desert as fast as their horses could take them._

_Feeling eyes on them, the O'Connells stumbled to a stop before slowly turning to look behind them._

_On a ridge overlooking the desert were ten horsemen, all in black, watching._

_Rick grabbed Lillian's arm and began to lead her away, both of them stumbling slightly, as the horsemen continued to watch._

"_Hey, Rick," his sister said, still slightly panting._

"_Yeah?" he said, eyes squinting in the sun._

"_You and me. Side by side."_

"_Of damn course," he said, pulling his sister slightly closer, relieved to have her, at least._

"_But if I die, I'm coming for you," she said solemnly, looking directly at him._

_He looked back, made eye contact, and sighed, "Of damn course."_

* * *

Lillian O'Connell was born fightin'.

Or at least, that's what her brother Rick always told her.

He also told her that her eyes would turn orange if she ate too many carrots up until she was eleven, so Lillian isn't sure how reliable a source her older brother actually is.

Whether or not she was born fighting, she certainly lived her life in that manner, but she didn't have much choice in it as far as she was concerned.

Little girls in Cairo orphanages had to fight, or face some disastrous results. Especially little orphan girls with thick-headed older brothers who always got themselves into a mess of some sort.

She was luckier than most, she'll admit- she had an older brother to look out for her, just as much as she looked out for him, and while it was difficult to stick together sometimes (once, when she was seven, they were placed in separate orphanages, but she ran away and found Rick and no one really was bothered enough to force her back), they had managed quiet well for the past twenty some years.

That's why, when Rick was set to hang in some godforsaken Cairo prison, she made damn sure to get her brother out.

It wasn't exactly hard- after doing various bank jobs, swindles, and scams ever since she could run, breaking her brother out of a Cairo prison was actually one of the easier jobs she's pulled.

However, now, they needed to get out of the city. Somewhere, anywhere, else. She couldn't risk her family in the city any more, not with a price on Rick's head. So as her brother tried to wash the worst of the prison grime off of himself she was packing up their few belongings and trying to determine how long exactly they'd have to stay away before coming back to Cairo would be safe again.

Because they would come back. Somehow, they _always_ ended up in Cairo.

There was a knock at the door, two short raps, then one heavy pound, a signal that Haytham was back and with company.

Hiding the signs of her flight, Lillian took a quick peak in the mirror, pulled her hair to some semblance of a neat bun, and then opened the door, hoping she looked as calm and collected as possible.


	2. Rick's Cool Tattoo

"_Rick?" a very small Lillian asked as she sat on his bed, watching her brother pack up their things. "Why are we leaving?"_

_Her brother hissed as he bumped his new tattoo up against a book he was reaching past to grab their hidden money stash. Lillian thought the new tattoo was rather cool, and was a little jealous, but something about it really freaked Rick out._

"_I told you, Lil, we can't stay here. They strapped me down to slap some freaky magic tattoo on me, and I don't want them doing anything to you."_

_Lillian decided not to argue- Rick was six years older than her (a mighty twelve years, all told), and she knew that he sometimes had an idea of what was going on when she didn't. She didn't think a cool tattoo was anything to get in a fuss over, but it was Rick's cool tattoo, so she guessed it was up to him._

"_Where will we go?" she asks next._

_Her brother reaches under a floorboard to take out some knives he managed to get his hands on for protection. He had an awful lot to protect- Cairo wasn't particularly safe for little blonde girls, and he wasn't about to let anyone touch his baby sister. After dad left and mom died, she was all he had left._

_And Rick wasn't real good at sharing._

"_I don't know," he told her, pausing to ruffle her hair a little and slip a knife into her boot for her. He wanted to protect Lillian- but he knew sometimes all she'd have between her and danger was herself. His little sister was pretty scary at throwing knives, and she knew how to keep herself safe- he made sure of it. "But we'll figure it out. And we'll be together, you and me."_

"_You and me," she repeated, brushing her fingers over a soft toy he had stolen from a shop for her last birthday- it was a little stuffed camel that she named Faris. "Side by side."_

"_Of damn course," her brother replied, adding the curse because it made him feel a little more grown-up, and with Lillian to take care of, he needed to feel as grown up as he could._

_This world wasn't terribly kind to orphans, and Rick grabbed his sister's hand before leading her silently out of the orphanage and into the streets. _

_They'd figure something out._

* * *

Evelyn Carnahan was having a rather trying day. First, she managed to make a mess of the library at the Cairo Museum of Antiquities. Dr. Terrance Bay, her boss, was less-than-pleased with that. Then, her reprobate of a brother decided to scare her out of her own skin by crawling into a casket with a mummy for kicks. Then, when she and Jonathan were showing Dr. Bay a 3000 year old map to Hamunaptra, the man actually set it on fire! Destroying part of the map containing the location of the ancient city. Finally, she found out her brother had lied to her about where, precisely, he had gained the puzzlebox containing the map. "A dig down in Thebes" her right foot!

"You lied to me!" she accused her elder brother as he led her to one of the Cairo prisons, the current home of the man who he had stolen the box off of.

"I lie to everyone," he replied easily, giving her a look, "What makes you so special?"

"I'm your sister," Evelyn shot back, incised. Really. With family like this who needs enemies?

"That just makes you more gullible," Jonathan rolled his eyes.

"You stole it from a drunk at the local cabash," she recited, still somehow not able to believe it.

This, really, considering her brother's tendencies, was rather idiotic.

"Picked his pocket, actually," Jonathan returned, almost proud.

At that moment they arrived at the prison, only to find it in a state of disarray, guards and warden scrambling about the place, no order to be seen.

"Oh, my," Evelyn said, standing a few feet away from the threshold.

"Hello hello!" a voice piped up, and the Carnahan siblings turned to see a young Egyptian boy of about eleven or twelve standing before them, wide grin on his face, hands shoved in his pockets, and dirt smeared on his nose and forehead. "You looking to visit someone in here today?"

"Yes," Jonathan answered easily, "But-"

"Ah, yes, very good, I am the receiver of visitors, you tell me who you looking for, and I help you find them. Today very very busy- a man escaped last night, you see. Oh, and there is five pound visiting fee. Did you know?"

"Five pounds?" Evelyn asked, reaching for her wallet. "Really?"

The boy nodded quickly, "Yes yes, my uncle- he the warden- fat man there- he said that prison has to be paid somehow otherwise- how we pay the guards, huh?"

"Yes, I see," Evelyn replied, handing over the five pound note.

"Thank you thank you," the boy replied with an even wider grin, shoving the note in his pocket. "Now- who you be looking for?"

"A Richard O'Connell," Evelyn said as Jonathan looked around at the chaos.

"Mr. O'Connell?" the boy repeated, eye brows rising and smile faltering, "What you be looking for him for?"

"Oh, see-" Evelyn began before her brother cut her off.

"Oh, I'm just a sort of local missionary chap, trying to spread the good word. But this is my sister Evie."

The boy squinted at Jonathan, "Man, you no missionary. Try again."

"We came to ask him about a certain possession of his," Evelyn said before her brother could try lying again, "That's fallen into our hands."

The boy's eyes narrowed further, before he replied, "Well, Mr. O'Connell no longer here. He was the man escaped, you see?"

"Oh, dear," Evelyn sighed, looking at her brother. "What now? We can't get to Hamunaptra without the map or someone who knows the map."

"Hey, lady, you say Hamunaptra?" the boy interrupted, eyes widening.

"Oh, no no no no," Jonathan said, shaking his head, "She said, er, I just love ya! My baby sister- so supportive."

"Man," the boy said, squinting his eyes at Jonathan, "You are a terrible liar. Try again. I heard the whole thing. You really wanna talk to Mr. O'Connell? 'Bout Hamunaptra?"

"Yes," Evelyn said, "But if he's escaped there's no way for us to-"

"Eh- hold it hold it!" the boy interrupted, before motioning them to lean in; "You really wanna talk? Just talk?"

Evelyn took off her hat so as to shield her and the boy's faces in case anyone was listening in. "Well, yes," she replied out.

"_Really_ wanna?" the boy checked again, eyes squinting at the Englishwoman.

"Yes," she breathed.

The boy straightened with a bounce, "Then come with me- I'll show you where you need to go."

"What?" Jonathan repeated, "You can take us to an escaped convict. I thought you were the warden's nephew?"

The boy waved his hand, "Pfftt. That fat man? No- I got no uncle. I'm Mr. O'Connell's representation, really."

"His what?" Evelyn asked, following the urchin's quick steps.

"Representation. His advocate, you know? You looking for Mr. O'Connell, and I see you look OK, so I bring you to Mr. O'Connell, and he decide what to do with you. It's a very important job," he puffed out his chest proudly, grinning back at them.

"Oh, I-I see," Evelyn replied, eyes scanning the neighborhood they're entering. It's not one of the best in Cairo- and that's saying something considering the state of the city, and she stepped closer to Jonathan for what little protection he was able to offer.

The boy led them up a flight of stairs of some sort of apartment building, and then knocked on the door twice quickly, before hitting it hard with a "thud!"

That last "thud" evidently hurt quite a bit since he then hissed and started shaking out his hand.

After a moment of waiting, the door opened to reveal a young woman, dressed in slacks, astonishingly enough, golden brown hair up in a bun and face solemn as she looked out at the trio standing on her threshold.

"Yes?" she asked, voice even.

"Lily, Lily," their guide says, immediately receiving the woman's attention as he bounces up to her, "These two looking for Mr. O'Connell, wanna talk about that thing, you know. They seem alright sorts- no guns or nothing. Though," and he lowers his voice, though not enough to prevent the Carnahans from hearing "You wanna watch that cat around the valuables."

The woman nodded solemnly at the young boy and gestured them in, "Well, you'd better take them inside, then, Haytham."

The boy grinned proudly and led the English siblings inside the tiny apartment. Things were a bit bare, but they were neat and clean.

"Now, what is this about?" the woman asked Evelyn and Jonathan.

"I'm sorry, but we were hoping to speak to a Richard O'Connell," Evelyn said, looking around and not spotting anyone else.

"I'm Lillian O'Connell, and you can talk to me," the blue-eyed woman returned, voice stern, arms crossed across her chest. She stood before the two siblings, the young Egyptain boy behind her, with one hip jutting out and Evelyn noticed a holster containing a pistol on the opposite hip. The boy, Haytham, stood behind Ms. O'Connell, trying to imitate the woman's foreboding stance.

"Well, we wanted to talk about his puzzlebox. You see, we found it, and wanted to ask him about it."

"No," Lillian said evenly.

"No?" Evelyn echoed back, not sure what to make of it.

"No," Lillian repeated with a nod before continuing, "You wanted to talk about Hamunaptra."

"How do you know the box pertains to Hamunaptra?" Evelyn asked, her voice breathless as her eyes widened with delight.

"Because that's where I was when I found it, we were there" a man's voice came from a door to the left, and all four turned to look at him. He was slightly damp- his hair long and dripping onto his white shirt, his face covered in bruises and a scraggly beard. He had clearly just come from some sort of bath and his pants were still undone as he held them up while tucking in the shirt. His eyes turned to Lillian, before he asked, "Who's the broad?"

"Broad!" Evelyn repeated, offended.

"I never did get your names," Lillian returned, eyes settling again on the Carnahan siblings.

"Well, I'm Jonathan, and this is my sister, Evie."

Rick O'Connell looked Evelyn up and down before shrugging, "Not a total loss, I guess."

Evelyn was stunned and furious, stammering as Lillian stepped in.

"Mind your manners, Rick, they're here to ask some questions about Hamunaptra."

"So you were actually _at_ Hamunaptra?" Evelyn asked, getting herself back under control.

"Wait a moment-" Jonathan cut in, "How do we know that's not a load of pigswallow?"

Rick took a closer look at the brother of the pair, "Hey, don't I know you?" he asked, clearly thinking.

Jonathan gave a nervous smile before quickly speaking, "No. No! You see, I've just got one of those faces…"

Rick suddenly gave a nod, obviously remembering the man, before he lashed out and decked the Englishman, knocking the man straight to the ground as Haytham cheered.

"Yeah, I remember him," he told his sister.

Evelyn took a quick look down at her brother before stepping over him to address the man who was now buttoning his pants, completely unconcerned.

"You _were_ at Hamunaptra?"

Rick raised an eyebrow, grinning at the girl's spunk. "Yeah, we were there," he said with a nod at his sister.

"Do you _swear_?" Evelyn asked, trying to read his truthfulness in his face.

Rick just gave a cheeky grin, "Every damn day."

Haytham barked a laugh at that, "Yup, and real good, too!"

"That's- that's not what I-" Evelyn tried to say.

"I know what you meant," Rick replied with a wave of his hand, pushing his hair back from his face.

Lillian gave a smile before resting a hand on the young urchin's shoulder, "We were there," she confirmed to the Englishwoman.

"Seti's place," her brother continued, "City of the dead," he added in a spooky voice, widening his eyes and smirking at the young Haytham, who was vibrating with excitement.

"Could you tell me how to get there?" Evelyn asked, drawing the attention back to herself. "I mean, the _exact_ location?"

Rick raised an eyebrow, "You wanna know?"

"Well, yes," she told him.

"You _really_ wanna know?" he asked again, reminding Evelyn of the similar process with Haytham earlier that day as she leaned in even closer.

"Yes," she replied, causing O'Connell to grin.

"Rick," Lillian's voice cut in before things could go further. "I need to talk to you."

Rick broke eye contact with Evelyn, stepping around her to meet with his sister, as they talked.

"We don't have time for this," she informed him a voice that was low, but not enough to prevent Evelyn's hearing. "We need to get out of Cairo."

"We don't have any money to get us out of Cairo," her brother reminded her.

"We have enough to try," she shot back.

"Excuse me?" Evelyn butted in, stepping towards the group of three, "But I can't help over hearing- you need funds, yes?"

Both O'Connells eye her suspiciously, "Yeah," the elder returned, drawing out the world.

"And you need to leave the city? Presumably due to your recent escape from prison?" she confirmed.

"Yes," Rick replied, hands settling on his sister and Haytham's shoulders as Evelyn took another step forward.

"Well, Hamunaptra _is_ out of Cairo. And I will give you…one hundred pounds to guide me and my brother there."

Lillian turned to her brother, whispering, "We could get as far as Asyut with that, if we stretch it."

Rick shook his head, "Not worth the risk of Hamunaptra, though, I mean- Lil, you really wanna go there again?"

"I can give you two hundred pounds," Evelyn jumped in, and the siblings exchanged another look.

"I still say it ain't worth the risk. You said we've got enough to try to get out of Cairo? Well, let's try," Rick told his sister.

"But with Haytham we could use some extra funds," she insisted, her hand tightening on the boy's shoulder.

"Three hundred," Evelyn burst in again.

The siblings simply stare at each other, Lillian chewing on her bottom lip as Rick's eyes squint in thought.

"Four hundred pounds," Evelyn said, getting desperate.

"We'd have to bring Haytham to that place," Rick reminded his sister.

"I can take care of myself!" the boy burst in, causing the two adults to look down at him.

Lillian sighed.

"Five hundred pounds!" Evelyn said in a last-ditch attempt.

The elder O'Connell's eyebrows rose, but his eyes remained on his sister, "Up to you, Lil," he said, voice even.

Lillian looked down at Haytham, who was grinning excitedly. "Oh, alright, I suppose there are worse plans."

The boy cheered and so did Evelyn, though she quickly composed herself.

"Yes, thank you," she said, straightening out her skirt as if it would erase her previous break of calm. "We will meet you on Giza Port, dockside at- 9 am sharp tomorrow?"

The two siblings nodded and, picking up her groaning brother, Evelyn left them to their preparations. Rick stepped up to help her carry Jonathan out of the apartment building, stopping at the doorway.

"Well," he said, giving a grin, "There you go."

Before Evelyn could say a word, he leaned forward and planted one- right on her lips.

"See you tomorrow," he said with a wink, before heading back up the stairs.

"Well!" the Englishwoman cried out, looking at her still-dazed brother, her eyes quickly darting back to the retreating form of Rick O'Connell. "I never!"

* * *

_Fun fact: Faris (the name of Lil's stuffed camel) means "knight" in Arabic. Drop a review?_


	3. The Best of Circumstances

_Being a sixteen year old, blonde, blue-eyed girl in a city with a thriving slave trade wasn't the best of circumstances for Lillian. And it gave Rick heart palpations (or so he said). But being a sixteen year old girl with a sharp-shooter brother who made sure she knew how to fire a gun, throw a knife, and fight in your basic street brawl…well, it still wasn't the best of circumstances, but it was significantly better._

_Which is why, as the leader of this particular street gang of Cairo stalked up to Lillian and Rick, practically growling in anger (Lillian had given him a bloody nose when she objected to her abduction), the two siblings were relatively calm._

_After all, it was two to six. Easy odds._

_They were in the wrong section of a city for a gunfight, but Lillian slipped the first of four knives out of her boots (she had one more tucked in her hair, and three up her sleeves, plus one against the small of her back), and Rick raised up his fists (he preferred a good ole brawl to a knife fight). Seeing this, their attacker paused for a second, before looking back at his five goons and grinning again._

_His mistake._

_Rick gave one solid punch across the jaw and the man feel down like a ton of bricks. At twenty-two, Rick had perfected his one-punch knockout (at least, as much as it was going to get), and he went for the next thug. Meanwhile, his sister had dodged a grab from anther assailant, only to take his arm and use it to twist around him before sticking the hilt of her knife right against her attacker's kidney._

_He was moaning on the floor in seconds._

_Continuing with her momentum, she pivoted so her back was towards her second target, before elbowing him sharply in the gut; the man's reaction was to immediately wrap his arms around his torso, which was just fine by Lillian. She pivoted again to slash her knife across his face, causing him to back up, moaning in agony with his face buried in his hands, before she sent a solid kick to his gut again, causing him to crash into the alley wall. _

_Rick was having a fistfight with two of the goons and so Lillian settled her eyes on the final man standing. He pulled out his own knife, giving her a feral grin. Lillian held still as he charged at her, remembering vaguely Rick explaining the rules of Chicken when they were younger. _

_When his knife was inches away, Lillian took a quick sidestep and let the goon impale himself on her own knife._

_If he was lucky, nothing terribly important was damaged._

_If he wasn't, Lillian couldn't be brought to care that one less slaver was on the streets._

_Rick finished his fight with one final punch to a chin, causing the final man to kneel on the ground, crying out of what was evidently a broken jaw._

_The two siblings exchanged a look and ran out of the alley, getting as far from the fight scene as they could. It was doubtful anyone would arrest them in Cairo, but Lillian insisted it was better to be safe than sorry when it came to things like that._

"I can't believe that worked," Lillian told her brother after the door was shut. Haytham had been sent to track where the Carnahan siblings were going to make sure nothing was said to the police. Just in case.

"I know. Five hundred pounds! That's a pretty good start to things. We can get out of Egypt with that much- all the way to Australia if we wanted to!"

"We could," his sister replied, nose scrunched up in thought. "Or we could get to Morocco and head back to the States."

"The possibilities are endless," he brother agreed, throwing an arm around her shoulders and giving her a little shake, causing some water droplets from his hair to fall on her.

"Ok- first things first, though, we're giving you a haircut. And you need to shave."

Rick gave a cheeky grin, "You're the boss, boss."

His sister just rolled her eyes and sat him down on a stool, grabbing the scissors.

"Rick- what are you really thinking about Hamunaptra?"

The man sighed, "I don't want to go back there," he said, shaking his head before his sister slapped him for moving, "But we need the cash and a way to get out of Cairo fast."

"I just- there's something out there."

He just sighed, "I know."

* * *

_Drop a review?_


	4. Never Going to Work

"_I hate this," Lillian muttered as yet another man catcalled her across the street. Rick threw an arm around her shoulders and sent the man (seriously- he was old enough to be their father) a glare._

"_I don't know what to tell you, Lil," he sighed, holding his sister close as they continued to walk through the streets to their apartment. It was in one of the worst sections of town, but it was all they could afford._

"_I do," Lillian muttered and stormed into their apartment. Rick double checked that everything was in its place (they didn't have much, but what they had, they held on to) and that no one was lurking (they got creeps and squatters more than once- including an awkward moment when a girl snuck in in an attempt to seduce Rick and didn't realize he also lived with his sister. His very protective sister. Needless to say, that girl didn't come back.) while he listened to his eighteen year old sister banging around in what counted as the bathroom. _

_They had to share it with the whole floor, but at this point in their lives they couldn't be bothered if the roof leaked or the pipes creaked or their neighbors yelled- they just needed some place._

"_I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner," he heard his sister call out to him._

"_Think of what?" he asked her, standing guard outside the bathroom door for her, his eyes lined up with the door to their own place._

"_This," she replied, throwing the door open. Rick's eyebrows shot up as he took a look at his sister. She had done something so her chest was bound flat, had tucked her hair up into an old hat of his, and was wearing some of his pants and a shirt that he had put aside to be mended whenever they had the time and supplies._

"_What are you doing?" he drawled, not quite sure what to do here._

"_This should work well enough. Though I look like you."_

"_Yeah," he said, heavy on the sarcasm, "It's like looking in a mirror. Lil-" he continued, now serious, "No one is going to fall for that."_

"_Oh, just watch- this is only the beginning. I can figure this out," she added the last sentence with her voice pitched lower. His sister didn't necessarily have a high, girly voice to begin with, and with the getup and the change in tone, she sounded and looked like a young man._

_Rick decided it was creepy._

"_That is never going to work."_

* * *

"They didn't go anywhere they shouldn't," Haytham told Lillian as the group of three walked into the Giza Port. "So shouldn't be no policemen."

"_Any_ policemen, Haytham," Lillian corrected.

"Oh I know," the boy said with a grin, "But tourists are so much easier to trick when you don't speak good English- then they think you're stupid."

The woman just sighed as the boy grinned up at her cheekily. She was dressed as a man- disguised as she had been when she had joined Rick with the French Foreign Legionnaires. Haytham was always mightily entertained by Lillian's disguise and took great delight in calling her "Mr. O'Donnell" whenever she wore it. It wasn't so much the pants and shirt- Lillian tended to wear men's clothes around the house for the sake of convenience. But whenever she hid her hair, flattened her chest, and deepened her voice the boy seemed to consider it some sort of magic show.

"C'mon you two," Rick said, herding the two towards the boat, "Can't be late."

The three spotted the Carnahan siblings, weighted down with luggage (each of them only had a rucksack each, long ago having learned how to travel light), and speaking about…well, Rick from the sound of things.

"Do you really think he's going to show up?" Evelyn asked her brother.

Jonathan nodded, eyes scanning the bustling travelers around them, "Yes, undoubtedly; knowing my luck," he gave a sigh, "He may be a cowboy, but I know the breed. His word is his word. Besides, you said they needed the money, and we have the money."

"Well," Evelyn said, getting huffy, "Personally, I think he's filthy, rude, a complete scoundrel- I don't like him one bit."

"Anyone I know?" Rick asked from behind them. Lillian struggled to hide a grin at Evelyn Carnahan's dazed look at the spruced up Rick. Her brother was a handsome sod, and he wielded his charm as well as he threw darts. In that he could hit the board, but it was usually by accident.

"I think they were talking about you, Mr. Rick," Haytham whispered to the O'Connells in an undertone.

At that Lillian did smile.

"Oh, um," the Englishwoman put down her bags, "Hello," Evelyn said, still in a daze, staring at Rick.

If she kept up with that, Lillian was going to have to start getting worried for her brother's virtue.

"Smashing day for the start of an adventure, eh, O'Connell?" Jonathan cut in, patting Rick on the chest before shaking his hand.

"Yeah," Rick said slowly, reaching to check his wallet. "Yeah, smashing."

"Oh!" Jonathan said with a chuckle, "No, no, I don't steal from a partner, partner," he added with a light tap on Rick's arm.

Rick smiled and gave a small nod, "That reminds me, no hard feelings about the, uh-" he mimed a punch to the face.

"Oh, no no, happens all the time," Jonathan replied easily.

"There's a shock," Lillian retorted.

"Now who is this?" Jonathan asked, looking at Lillian, "And where's Ms. - oh!" he said, eyes widening as he recognized Lillian.

"Rick doesn't go anywhere without me," she tells the man with a wink. "Can't trust him as far as I can throw him," she jokes.

"Oh," Evelyn said, breaking out of her trace, looking incredibly awkward as she refused to make eye contact with Lillian, "Mr. O'Connell," she directs at Rick, "Can you look me in the eye and guarantee me this isn't all some kind of a- a flimflam," she says, the picture of seriousness, "Because if it is, I am warning you, I'll-"

Rick cuts her off, "You're warning me?" he says incredulously, eyebrows raised, "Lady, let me put it this way- our whole damn garrison believed in this so much, that _without orders_, they marched halfway across Libya and into Egypt to find that city. And when we got there, all we found was sand. And blood."

"And heatstroke," Lillian added, mouth twisted in a grimace.

"You- you- were _both_ there?" Evelyn asked.

The siblings nod. "Can't keep us apart," Rick said with an easy grin. "She follows me everywhere," he jokes, winking at his sister, who just rolls her eyes.

"Someone has to keep you alive," she returns.

Rick just grins and bends down, "I'll get your bags," he tells the Carnahans, Haytham already bending down to help him, eagerly following the two O'Connells.

"Yes, yes, you're right," Jonathan says in his sister's ear as she watches the three- but particularly Rick, walk up the gangplank. "Filthy, rude, _complete_ scoundrel, nothing to like there at all."

His sister sighed and started her way onto the boat, Jonathan following behind with a teasing grin.

* * *

_I decided to celebrate my temporary break from tests (four in four school days. Not fun.) by posting a second chapter! So here we are._

_If any of you are wondering about the feasibility of a woman disguising herself as a man to fight in a war- it's been happening pretty much since wars began. Seriously, there's accounts of women fighting (and I'm using American wars because I'm more familiar with American history since I'm, you know, an American- and my grandfather was an American history teacher) in the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Civil War, all of which take place before this story so *shrugs* there's that. There is also women in WWI, WWII, ect. So, historically speaking, not only feasible, but pretty much guaranteed to have happened._


	5. The Storyteller

_Lillian cuddled in closer to her brother despite the heat of the day as they continued to listen to the storyteller in the market. They had run away from the orphanage- just for the day- to celebrate Rick's birthday. So far they had stolen some fresh fruit from a couple of stalls for lunch, snuck into a building where there was a fight ring (Lillian still insisted the littler guy threw the fight- he was too fast for that Bruno to have actually KOed him.), stole some more food for dinner, and now, because Rick's day wouldn't be complete without a little something just for his sister, they were listening as the storyteller told them tall tales about jinn and Pharaohs and treasure while the sun drifted towards the west in a red-orange haze._

_Rick grinned as his sister's eyes went wide with the storyteller's broad gesture to describe the treasure found by Ali Baba, and then went back to watching the people around them, making sure there were no threats to him or Lillian. After this story, they'd have to go back for the night. He doubted anyone noticed they were missing, and he doubted even more that anyone would care if they had, but still- Lillian needed to go to bed and he wanted her in a house before dark._

_She gave a gasp and Rick was instantly on alert, trying to see what had startled his sister, but he quickly realized she was just reacting to the story and grinned._

_Yeah, turning ten wasn't all that bad._

* * *

The atmosphere on the boat was relaxing, and Rick was walking around while his sister struggled to convince Haytham to go to sleep. The boy was used to late nights pick pocketing and didn't see why he shouldn't go with Rick around the boat.

"Because we have to keep up our strength for Hamunaptra," Lillian argued, pushing him back into the bunk. "Now sleep."

"You and Mr. Rick aren't going to sleep," he argued further.

"We're also not twelve year old boys," she argued back.

The boy settled into the pillow- this bed was more comfortable than his lumpy mattress in Cairo, and he felt his eyelids begin to betray him as they droop. He knew Lillian had seen it as well, judging by the smirk on her face. He put up one last protest.

"Tell me the story of Hamunaptra?"

Lillian grinned, knowing her battle was won; "Close your eyes," she instructed the boy, whose eyelids fairly flew shut when he realized he'd be getting a story out of it. With their lives there wasn't much time for childhood and storytelling, but Lillian and Rick fought to give Haytham what they could, and comforted themselves with the reminder that it was more than he'd have gotten on the streets or in an orphanage. "Hamunaptra is the city of the dead, and the first Pharaohs of Egypt, wealthy kings with gold to spare, put all their precious gems, jewels, and excess gold deep within the city's walls. It was the wealth of Egypt- the kind of fortune that isn't found today, but was a golden excess in the days of Seti the First, Pharaoh of Egypt. Seti was the Last Pharaoh of the Old Kingdom, and said to be the wealthiest of all- and a great warrior. He saw the defeat of the Scorpion King, and took the wealth for himself. But Seti was cautious, and jealous of his wealth, so he had it so that with a flick of a single switch- he could have Hamunaptra buried, deep under the sands, where no one would be able to lay their hands on his family's fortune. Over the years, many people have gone in search of Hamunaptra, but none have ever returned."

"Except you and Mr. Rick," the boy argued, his voice thick with impending sleep; Lillian smiled- Haytham could argue with a brick wall and still have time to fight her and Rick both. Thank god she and her brother were as stubborn as mules, or they'd never manage.

"Quiet, you little urchin," she teased, "I'm telling the story. Now- where was I?"

"None have ever returned," Haytham repeated faithfully.

"Ever returned," she picked up her story, grinning as the boy yawned, "But whispers, rumors, abound, saying- Hamunaptra is out there. Lost in the desert. But Seti's gold isn't all there is to find. There's something- a curse- an ancient evil- the tales all differ, but everyone agrees- something dark sleeps under the sands at Hamunaptra. Something…not of this _world_."

The two giggled a little as Lillian pulled the blanket up on Haytham, who snuggled deep into the mattress with a sigh. Turning down the kerosene lamp, Lillian grabbed her bag, thinking she'd get some fresh air while she cleaned and made sure her guns and knives were all ready to go.

For all that she giggled with Haytham over it, she was uneasy about whatever it was that haunts Hamunaptra.

* * *

_So there's chapter five: the Storyteller. Leave a review? What do you guys think so far?_


	6. A Master of Disguise

_I want to apologize for the late post- I had this chapter posted on AO3 and Tumblr last night, but then my internet went all wonky and so had to wait. So rest assured, it would've been up, had college internet actually be a consistent thing. Oh well, it's here now. :D_

* * *

"_Ah ah ah," Rick said, grabbing the wrist of the pick pocket who had just reached for his sister's wallet. "I don't think so, son."_

_Lillian turned to look and the siblings studied the urchin before them- he was a smaller boy, heavily on the skinny side (then again, what urchin wasn't?), dressed in rags and with bare feet. His skin was dark from his Egyptian heritage and the sun, and his eyes were a muddy brown. The boy's hair flopped over his head in a black mess, filled with knots and tangles. His age was anyone's guess, but Rick would've taken a stab at around nine or so._

_Lillian's eyes narrowed and she flashed a glance at Rick. She was dressed as a man today, and while she could pitch her voice lower, she preferred having Rick talk for her while she was in disguise, as it was one less thing to notice._

"_And just what do you think you're doing?" Rick asked, eyebrows raised._

"_Well, I was tryina take your friend's wallet, Mister."_

_Rick had to admire the kid's gumption- most urchins would've been trying to sell their sob story to the tourists to get pity._

"_And why is that?"_

_The boy gave a shrug and then grinned- displaying his white teeth and a dimple on the left side of his mouth. The smile was cheeky at best and downright rude at worst._

_Rick liked him._

"_Because I wanted it. Why else?" the boy shrugged._

_Lillian couldn't help but laugh. After returning from Hamunaptra and recovering from heat stroke, dehydration, starvation, and all manner of bad things, this little boy's cheek was like a breath of fresh air._

_Pleased he managed to make someone laugh, the boy grinned back at Lillian before his eyes widened._

"_I'm real funny," he told her, and in response she nicked a loaf of bread right off the cart they were standing beside and gave it to the boy._

_Rick lead them away before the owner could notice and they watched the boy tear into the loaf, no doubt not having eaten most of the day._

"_You're alright, Mister," he said, his mouth full yet not stopping that wide grin._

"_Glad you think so," Lillian replied, bending down so the boy could get a good look at her face._

_He stared for a moment, two, clearly trying to fit some pieces of the puzzle together while Lillian and Rick grinned at his baffled expression. _

_When it clicked, his eyes went wide._

"_Whoa- hey. That's so cool! Are you a jinni?"_

_Lillian laughed, "Nope, just a master of disguise," she said with a wink._

_The boy's eyes went wider, "That's even better! Can you teach me?"_

Lillian found her brother in the ship's bar, chatting with Jonathan and some fellow Americans who were sitting around the table playing poker.

"I only gamble with my life, never my money," he said as she stepped up to him, silently taking the space to his left, the way she always did. Due to an accident when they were still kids, Rick couldn't see clearly out of the corner of his left eye to this day, so they got in the habit of making sure Lillian was always there to protect that weak spot.

"Never?" an America repeated, his drawl indicating he was from the south, as he passed out the cards, "What if I was to bet you five hundred dollars we was to get to Hamunaptra before you?"

"You lookin' for Hamunaptra?" Rick asked slowly.

"Damn straight we are," replied another Yank as he took a look at his cards.

"And…who says we are?" Rick eyed the table.

"He does," all three stranger say, pointing at Jonathan.

The man in question gave an awkward chuckle as both Lillian and Rick delivered disappointed glares in his direction. "Well," he said, "How 'bout it? You wanna bet?"

All three Americans looked eagerly at Rick, who gave a quick side-eye to his sister, asking her opinion silently. She pursed her lips and then gave a shrug with one shoulder.

Rick smiled a shit-eating grin as he nodded, "Alright, you're on."

"What makes you so confident, sir?" another man asks from a separate table, where he sat with a hookah and a book.

Rick looked at the fellow, smirking, "What makes you?" he fires back.

"Well," drawled the blonde Yankee, "We've got us a man who's actually been there," he bragged, grinning up at Rick.

"Well, what a coincidence," Jonathan began, sending Rick's bag into motion, "Because-" at that moment Rick hit Jonathan's ribs with his gunny-sack. The Englishman cried out before looking up at the O'Connells. Rick casually continued the motion to rest his bag on his shoulder, "Whose play is it?" Jonathan turns back to the card game, stuttering slightly, "Is-is it my play? Because I thought, I just uh…"

"Gentleman," Rick said with a smile, placing a hand on Jonathan's shoulder as he walked by, "We got us a wager. Good evening, Jonathan," at the man's name he squeezes Jonathan's shoulder tight.

"Night," the Englishman responds nervously.

Lillian follows her brother out of the bar, but not without "accidentally" hitting Jonathan upside the head with her own bag.

The two siblings found Evelyn sitting on the deck, reading a book. Rick unceremoniously dropped his bag on the table, startling the woman, as his sister rolled her eyes and laid her own bag out on a second table- no way would both arsenals fit on one.

Rick gives a cheery grimace and smiles, "Sorry," he says to the brunette, without actually looking terribly apologetic for startling her, "Didn't mean to scare ya." He began to take off his jacket and tossed it over to Lillian who caught it and put it on a chair.

Oh, boy- her brother was flirting.

"The only thing that scares me, Mr. O'Connell, are your manners," Lillian had to hand it to Evelyn- she was pretty witty. If only she said the words with a little more bite and a little less timidity.

Rick sucked in a breath, still grinning, "Still angry about that kiss, huh?"

Evelyn seemed shocked, "If you call _that_ a kiss, and I can't believe you would do so and then bring it up in front of your wife-"

Lillian cut her off here, "Wait- Rick- when did you get married?"

"My _wife_?" Rick repeats with a chuckle. Poor Evelyn looks mightily confused now, "You mean _Lil_? She's not my wife."

"But- you live together, and your last name is the same, and you have that boy, and-"

"And I'm his sister," Lillian inserted, "We live together because we look out for each other, our last name being the same goes back to that whole sibling thing, and Haytham we just kinda…picked up," she shrugged, "He's family now."

Poor Evelyn looked all sorts of awkward and stammered, "Oh-oh I see. Yes, now that you point it out you do share some similarities- I just- I-I assumed…"

Rick grinned at her stuttering as he unrolled his pack with a flick of his wrist and Lillian just gave the woman a small smile before turning back to her own.

Grateful for a change in subject, Evelyn took a closer look at Rick's various weapons.

"Um- did I miss something? Are we- are we going into battle?" she gave a small grin at Rick, who sat across from her as he started checking one of his pistols.

"Lady, there's something out there," he told her, eyes concentrated on the gun. "Something underneath that sand," he said forebodingly, making eye contact as he put the pistol into his right side holster.

"Not to mention, last time we were there, everyone we were with died," Lillian added, putting two pistols into her own holsters.

"Yes, well," Evelyn sighed, "I'm hoping to find a certain artifact," her eyes lit up with the discussion, "A book, actually," she continued to watch Rick arm himself. "My brother thinks there's treasure. What-what do you thinks out there?" she asked, fiddling with one of his ammunitions.

Rick looked up sharply at that, "In a word? Evil. The Bedouin and the Tuaregs believe that Hamunaptra is cursed," he took away one of his trick knives from Evelyn before she hurt herself.

"Oh, look," she said, sounding everything that is sensible and British, "I don't believe in any of that fairytales and hokum, Mr. O'Connell, but," and her eyes gleam as she discussed her passion, "I-I do believe that one of the most famous books in history is buried out there. The Book of Amun-Ra. It contains within it all the secret incantations of the Old Kingdom," Rick begins cleaning his rifle as Evelyn goes on, "It's what first interested me in Egypt when I was a child; it's-it's why I came here. Sort of a- a life's pursuit."

"And the fact that they say it's made out of pure gold makes," he gestured with his cloth, "No nevermind to you? Right?" he asked as Evelyn's mouth dropped open and her eyes lit up.

"You know your history," Evelyn praised.

"He knows his treasure," Lillian corrected, letting them know she's still there. It seemed they had forgotten her in the discussion and she looks closely at her brother and Miss Carnahan. They were both leaned in towards each other over the table, Evelyn's book forgotten in her lap and Rick's guns only being cleaned properly due to muscle memory. Lillian stuffed a few knives in her boots and pulled off the cap disguising her hair to twist it up in a bun secured with yet another knife. She stuffed the cap back on her head before gathering up her weapons and looking at her brother, "I'm heading to the bunk," she told him, head gesturing in its general direction, "I want to check on Haytham and make sure everything's ready." He gave a nod and she left, passing the camels with a quick pat to each other their heads.

"Um," Evelyn murmurs, looking down as Rick cocked his rifle in test, "By the way," her eyes drifted up to look at the man before her, "Why did you kiss me?" she says, her voice drifting softly on the night air.

Rick gave a chuckle, demonstrating his usual lack of tact, "I don't know. I had just managed to avoid being hanged; it seemed like a good idea at the time." He picked up another gun, not noticing the infuriated expression crossing Evelyn's face. She gave a huff and stormed away from the table.

Rick watched her go, loading up yet another gun, "What?" he asked, "What'd I say?"

At that moment, Rick heard an almost hiccup-sound coming from behind some crates. Looking over, Rick noticed the crates shake slightly and the shadow on the wall of a man's profile. Getting up and walking over to it, Rick suddenly reached behind the crates, grabbing and pulling out-

"What a surprise! My good friend- you're alive! I was so very very worried."

"Well, if it ain't my little buddy Beni," Rick gritted out, before giving a slight nod, "I think I'll kill you," with that he cocked his pistol and pointed it at Beni Gabor's heart.

"Think of my children!" Beni protested.

Rick's eyebrows came together, "You don't have any children," he said, shaking his head.

Beni blinked slowly and pitifully said, "Someday I might."

"Shut up," Rick ordered with a shake, his hand still gripping the front of Beni's shirt tight, "So you're the one who's leading the Americans. I might've known," he muttered before continuing in a louder voice, "So what's the scam, Beni? You take them out in the middle of the desert and then you leave 'em to _rot_?"

"Unfortunately, no," Beni grimaced, "These Americans are smart," he sighed, "They pay me only half now _half_ when I get them back to Cairo so this time I must go all the way."

"Them's the breaks, huh?" Rick nodded, releasing Beni and shoving his gun in his belt.

Beni straightened his clothes before giving Rick a piercing look, "You never believed in Hamunaptra, O'Connell. Why are you going back?" They heard a camel lowing and the two men turned to see Evelyn petting one of the animals, one foot propped up on the fence.

"You see that girl?" Rick said, eyes on Evie. "She's helping me to save my neck." At that moment, Evelyn turned to see Rick and Beni standing there, Rick gave her a small smile but she rolled her eyes and walked off.

"You always did have more balls than brains," Beni nodded, turning back to Rick with a slap on the back. Beni begins to chuckle and Rick joins in, slinging an arm around the man.

"Yeah," he returned, before grabbing Beni's shirt again, "Goodbye, Beni," he calmly said as he threw the man over the side of the boat.

Beni's shriek ended with a satisfying splash.

Walking off, hands on his hips, Rick took the gun he threatened Beni with and put it away in its place in the gunny sack, rolling it back up as Beni shouted, "O'Connell!" and what Rick thought were some curses in Hungarian. It was anyone's guess though, Beni spoke about seven languages. Or it could just be sputtering. Rick grinned and began to head back to check on the girls and Haytham, but came to a sudden stop when he noticed wet footprints along the deck. He looked over the side, trying to see if Beni was still down there.

He was getting a sinking feeling about this.

* * *

_Lol, Evelyn didn't realize Rick and Lil were siblings. _

_I have a brother and on occasion we have had people assume we're a couple. Kinda a fact of sibling life, I think, because the only time I haven't heard my friends talk about that happening to them and their siblings is when it's like a massive age difference._  
_So rest assured- it's a thing._

_Review?_


	7. No Stopping Her

_Rick sighed as he and his sister had the same argument for the third time that day._

"_I'm telling you, Richard Samuel O'Connell, if you go, I go," Lillian said, arms crossed, "And there's no way you can stop me, because if you leave without me I'll just follow."_

"_Lil- I don't want you in danger-"_

"_And I don't want you in danger!" his sister immediately yelled back at him, "So tough luck."_

"_Lil- listen to me," he plead for reason, "This isn't some back alley in Cairo- this is the French Foreign Legionnaires."_

"_All the more reason for me to stick by you," she said, her volume finally decreasing. Rick's ears may have appreciated that, but he knew once Lillian lowered her voice that mean there was going to be no moving her._

_He sighed, "this is a damn stupid thing to do, you could get killed."_

_And then his sister says the thing guaranteed to make him cave._

"_You and me. Side by side."_

_He gives his traditional reply reluctantly, "Of damn course."_

"_But if I die, I'm coming for you," she adds with a threatening finger jabbed at him._

_He looks back up at her, "Of damn course," he repeats._

_Because, really, what else is there to say? She's twenty-one years old and stubborn as a mule- there's no stopping her._

Lillian is pretty sure she almost shot Rick when he came bursting into their room after she heard what she thought was Evelyn screaming. The door flying open is what woke Haytham.

Rick raised his hands, pistols in each one, when he say his sister's gun pointed at him. "We've got a problem," he said, before dashing over to Evelyn's room.

Lillian immediately got Haytham up and gave the boy a knife and gun before telling him sternly "Stay _here_," and following her brother.

She found Evelyn's room rather crowded what with Evelyn in her nightgown, held hostage up against a man in all black clothing, his face scarred and a hook for one hand. _Very Peter Pan_, she thought briefly before imitating her brother and aiming for the man in question.

She noticed the candle move in some sort of draft and immediately pivoted left so that when another man opened the widow across from her she had no problem shooting while Rick kept his eyes (and guns) on Evelyn's attacker.

Unfortunately, one bullet went a bit wide and hit the kerosene lamp hanging above the couch. The lamp fell, dousing the couch in flames and lighting up like a bonfire on the Fourth of July.

Rick watched cautiously as Evelyn, seizing a nearby candle, threw it back (still lit) into her attacker's eye. The man let her go, screaming in pain, and the brunette rushed towards Rick and the exit. Lillian followed cautiously, eyes still on the widow as the man made another appearance, shooting back. Smoke was pouring out the room when Evelyn gave a cry and ran back towards the room.

"Oh! The map! The map! I forgot the map!"

Rick calmly reloaded his gun, strolling down the hall way and grabbed Evelyn before she could pass him. "Relax," he said, pulling her away, "_I'm_ the map- it's all up here."

"Oh that's comforting," Evelyn wailed as Lillian ducked into their room and motioned Haytham to follow them. The boy leapt up, grabbing bags, and followed, Lillian making sure he was between her and Rick.

"Does he have a _gun_?" Evelyn asked, looking at the boy with astonishment. She seemed a little offended by the idea.

"Lady, I can shoot better than you," Haytham replied, cocking the gun in a way Rick taught him.

"Let's hope you don't have to," Lillian replied as she kept her eyes behind them- making sure the man with a hook didn't come back for a repeat performance.

All was chaos on deck, horses, camels, and people all jumping overboard as the ship went up in flames.

"You hold this," Rick said, handing Evelyn his gunny sack, cocking his gun again. Lillian was a behind and to his left, Evelyn and Haytham between the two siblings, and they both felt slightly more in control of the situation until a shooter on one of the balconys began to fire at them. Backing up towards the door, Rick began loading his pistol, taking bullets out of his pockets. Each shot burst through the wall, inching slowly closer and closer to Rick's head.

Evelyn grabbed Rick by the holster and pulled him to the side just in time for a bullet to rush past his head. Rick took Evelyn's hand off him and then ducked around the wall to return fire, leading the group towards the side of the ship. Lillian found her hands full as well protecting their left and back while Rick took everything to the front and right.

They had made it to the side, and Rick holstered his gun as he looked back at the group, Lillian still on alert for any attacks.

"Can you swim?" he asked Evelyn, yelling to be heard over the gunfire.

"Well, of course I can swim!" she yelled back, letting go of Rick's gunny sack as he took it out of her arms, "If the occasion calls for it!"

"Trust me," Rick said, picking her up in a bridal hold, "It calls for it," and with that he chucked her over the side.

Rick lifted up his rucksack and Lillian holstered her gun, preparing to follow him, when another of those men in black robes came climbing up the side of the boat and decked Rick.

Haytham was quick though, and dug his knife into the man's side, weakening him enough for Rick to toss him to the side and pick up the boy.

"Good work, kid," he said, "Now swim!" and he tossed Haytham over too. He made eye contact with Lillian who grimaced down at the water. "I know you're not going to like it, but let's get it over with," he told her, picking his sister up and throwing her over before grabbing his weaponry once again and leaping over after her.

Lillian was swimming for all she was worth. It's not that she didn't like swimming, per say.

She just hated crocodiles.

* * *

_I checked the dates- J.M. Barrie published Peter Pan before the events of this story, so it's perfectly realistic for Lillian to reference it. I mean, what else are you going to think of when faced with a man with a hook for a hand?_

_Please review!_


	8. Swimming in the Nile

"_You gotta be careful swimming in the Nile," Rick teased his sister one summer day, grinning as she splashed around._

"_I can swim," she called back to him as he dove in again to begin splashing her, getting water in her eyes._

"_That's not what you need to worry about," he sing-songed, enjoying her shrieks as she tried to retaliate. _

"_What?"_

"_You gotta worry about the crocodiles!" he yelled before jumping up to tackle her into the water, dunking her effectively._

_She came up sputtering, splashing water into his face that time._

"_Shut up, Rick," she said blinking her eyes rapidly._

_At that moment, though, Rick froze, "Um, Lil, remember what I said about crocodiles?"_

"_Oh, god, Rick, don't try and tell me there's one behind me- I'm not gonna believe you! You're just trying to scare me."_

"_Ok, but let's get out of the water. I'm hungry, aren't you?" the fact that her brother's voice was pitched high despite his attempt at a casual sentence tipped Lillian off. Slowly, she turned her head to look behind her._

_There was a crocodile, sunning itself just on the other bank._

"_Rick," she whimpered._

"_It's okay, Lil, just, get out of the water real calm but quick."_

"_Rick," she whimpered again as her brother slipped his hand into hers, leading her away. But her legs were frozen and she couldn't begin to move. Her breath started coming faster and soon she was hyperventilating. _

"_Lil- Lil- look at me, look at me, not him. Ok. Lil?" Rick physically turned his sister's head back towards him. Locking his eyes with hers he began walking backwards, trying to keep up a good speed, knowing as soon as they were on land they'd be able to outrun the croc should it choose to go after them, but in the water- the crocodile'd have the advantage. "Good, now just follow me. Step by step. Breath with me, Lil. Okay? You're ok, Lil. Just step with me."_

* * *

They were all sputtering as they walked out of the river, Lillian just glad to be on land again. The horses and camels were making plenty of noise, but it seemed distant.

"We've lost _everything_," Evelyn said as they stumbled out of the shallows, "All of our- tools, all the equipment," Rick, Lillian, and Haytham each dropped a pack on the ground, Rick and Lillian both sighing at the thought of all that wet weaponry. Hopefully nothing was damaged. "All my clothes," Evelyn added, looking down at her soaking wet nightgown. Haytham had a pack with some clothes for Rick, Lillian, and himself- but the group doubted men's shirts and pants would really work for Evelyn. Besides, that was only a temporary solution.

"O'Connell!" a voice shouted on the opposite bank, "Hey! O'Connell!" the group turned to see Beni, waving his arms and shouting at them in the chaos of horses, camels, and men. "It looks to me like I've got all the hor-ses!"

"Rick," Lillian sighed as her brother went to stand at the edge of the river.

"Hey, Beni!" he shouted back, "Looks to me like you're on the wrong side of the ri-ver!"

Lillian couldn't help but grin a little as she saw Beni kick the water with the realization that Rick was correct.

"Let's get a move on," she said, bringing Haytham closer to her and looking him over for injuries, "There's a Bedouin village nearby we can barter at." She picked up her pack and slug it over on her back.

"You _do_ know this well, then?" Evelyn asked, still concerned about Rick's assertion that he was the map, evidently.

"Trust me," Lillian replied, walking in the direction she remembered the village being in, leading Haytham, who was dead on his feet after the swim and all the action, "You march something with two hundred stinky smelly Legionnaires, you'll remember the landscape _very_ well."

"Girl's right," Rick said, picking up his and Haytham's packs before following his sister, "Not a trip we're likely to forget."

"Just one question-" Jonathan said, following them with heavy steps, "Just how nearby is _nearby_?"

* * *

_Sorry for not posting yesterday- I was hanging with a friend and ended up crashing at his apartment. But I'm back with my computer now! So I'll be posting today's chapter in a couple of hours as well._

_Also- I looked up what to do if you see a crocodile online, so the accuracy of Rick's advice is not something I can attest to._

_Drop a review, please!_


	9. He Protects Me

"_So, you're going to come up from the left, okay?" Rick said, drawing a diagram in the sand._

_Lillian gave a firm nod, "Okay," she confirmed._

"_Then, we'll attack," Rick said, using the stick he had been drawing with to wipe out the strategy they had just mapped out. The two were about to stand when a shadow fell over them._

"_And what are you two up to?" a deep voice asked._

_The two children looked up to see a tall man, his robes all in black, a smile on his face he he surveyed the siblings, crouched down together._

"_We're going to defeat Napoleon," Lillian replied, as if it should be obvious._

"_Napoleon, eh?" the man asked, crouching down beside them. Rick's eyes narrowed at this stranger invading their game, "Might I provide some assistance in such an endeavor?"_

_Lillian, at five, was enchanted by the man's mystery, his accent, and, above all, his willingness to take their game seriously. Most adults would've laughed or told them Napoleon would never be defeated by a five and eleven year old. Or even worse, told them they should play a game more suitable for children. _

_That particular phrase usually meant play tag or a chore will be assigned to you._

_Rick, at eleven, was less enchanted and more wary. He knew plenty of people made money by selling children- especially little blonde girls like his sister. The world was not an "enchanting" sort of place to Rick O'Connell, but he let the adult have his way, provided the stranger remained in sight at all times._

"_Your friend does not trust me," the adult commented to Lillian, amused._

_She gave a shrug, "He's my brother, he protects me. So that way, no one bad takes me away and nothing bad happens."_

_The man's eyes grow somber at this young girl's early knowledge that the world is not a safe place for her. No child of five should feel endangered, and feel it so casually- as if were a common thing to think about kidnappers carting her off to be sold into slavery. _

_At that moment, Rick interrupted, "We'd better go get lunch now, thanks for playing," he said, his tone stern as he picked up his little sister, the little girl heavy in the eleven year old's arms. But he continued to carry her anyway, arms wrapped securely around her as she tucked her head into his neck with a sweet wave to the man who helped them defeat Napoleon. _

_The stranger watches the children walk away, remaining silent as one of his men join him._

"_That boy," he murmured, breaking the silence after several minutes' contemplation, "He is one of us."_

"_The boy?" his man questioned, incredulous._

_He nodded, "The boy."_

* * *

"Nearby" turned out to mean "half-a-day's walk" to the O'Connells. And while Haytham sometimes got to ride piggy-back on Rick's back while Lillian carried two packs and Jonathan was saddled into carrying the third, the Carnahans weren't quite so lucky. Therefore, it was with immense relief that they spotted the village around early-morning.

The villagers came out to greet them and begin bartering- strangers and their wares were part of the economy system of the village and while many people looked askance at Lillian for wearing trousers (her hat had been lost in the river and while her hair was up in a bun, her chest wasn't bound and her gender was more than obvious), they continued to deal with the strangers.

The women of the tribe took an immediate shine to Evelyn, leading her away to dress her up like their own doll after seeing her shivering in her thin nightgown, even in the early morning sun. Haytham ran off with a group of children, playing games and exchanging stories (not before Rick took away his knife and gun), while Jonathan and Rick tried to barter for some camels.

Lillian found the village elders and began bartering in something these desert people valued more than gold- stories.

It took time for them to warm up to her, a woman who dared dress and act like a man. But, eventually, they shrugged: what was one to do about these Western women? These modern women? And she said she grew up in a Cairo orphanage? Not only without parents; she was raised in that crowded city. No wonder she turned out the way she did. Besides, plenty of their wives and daughters were just as opinionated.

"I only want five! _Five!_ I only want _five! _Not the whole bloody herd!" Jonathan shouted at one man, attempting to buy some camels for the group. Hearing him, Lillian rolled her eyes before excusing herself from the elders and joining the two men as the camel owner shouted at Jonathan just as loudly. "O'Connell! Oh! Can you believe the cheek!" Jonathan looked for sympathy from Rick, who just gestured to the salesman.

"Would you just pay the man!" her brother shouted. Lillian inserted herself before it could escalate further and took the wallet Jonathan was holding, fishing out the proper amount with a smile for the salesman. He was immediately polite, bowing and thanking her. She returned the gesture and grabbed the reins of the five camels.

"There," she says, handing the boys two camels each, "Now was that so hard?"

"I can't believe the price of these fleabags," Jonathan grumbled as he looked mournfully into his wallet, counting what's left of his money.

"Probably could've got them for free," Rick said, leading the animals away, "All we had to do was give 'em your sister." Lillian didn't find this particularly amusing and smacked her brother upside his head.

"Yes," Jonathan sighed, with a cheeky grin, "Awfully tempting, wasn't it?" He was surprised to receive a smack of his own, thinking that Lillian would only go after her own brother.

"Awfully," Lillian heard Rick murmur, and she turned to see him looking dazed- like he was beginning to get sun stroke and seeing a mirage. She followed his line of sight to see Evelyn stepping away from some of the Bedouin matrons, dressed in their traditional garb.

"She's so pretty," she whispered to her brother, testing him.

"Yeah," he sighed, still caught in a trance.

At that Lillian can't help but snort, breaking her brother out of his coma. He turned to look at her quickly, before blushing and putting the camels between him and his sister's knowing smirk.

"If this gets any more serious I'm going ot have to have a talk with her," she commented at a normal conversational level. Rick said nothing, but she knew he heard her.

"Lily! Mr. Rick! Which one's mine?" Haytham shouted excitedly as he ran up to the camels.

"This one right here, buddy boy," Rick said, handing one of the reins to the little urchin. "Now remember, it's not a pet- we can't take it home. But you take care of it, okay?"

"Yes, sir, Mr. Rick, oh boy!" Haytham practically floated into the saddle as Rick helped him up before turning and helping Lillian balance. "You sure we can't go live somewhere where we can keep them?" Haytham asked, eyes wide and begging.

"Kid, we can barely feed the three of us, how're we gonna feed camels, too?" Rick asked, beginning to lead their parade of camels on their way.

As Haytham pouted, they were one step closer to Hamunaptra.

* * *

_I often wondered why, when that tattoo was slapped on Rick in a Cairo orphanage, Rick was chosen or shown or selected or whatevered as a Medjai when...there was probably minimal Medjai teachings (I mean, he learned the phrase but he didn't seem familiar with any of the culture or anything and I'm really not certain if Rick even spoke Arabic for all he grew up in Cairo) so this is my explanation. _

_What do you think?_


	10. A Little Jump

"_Don't you even think about it!" Rick shouted, his voice stern, finger pointed at the culprit. If you were close enough, you could have seen the slight tremor in his hands even as he kept his face stern and impassive._

"_Oh, Rick, calm down, it's just a little jump." Lillian rolled her eyes, not even bothering to turn around to see her brother where he stood behind her._

"_Little?" he repeated, incredulous, "That is not- Lillian Rose O'Connell if you don't turn around right now-."_

"_Rick," she finally turned around, but did not move any further away from the edge she stood on, overlooking the Nile- perfect for a long jump into the river, she thought._

_Her brother didn't agree._

"_It's perfectly fine, Mus'ad already jumped over and is having fun," with this statement she gestured down below to one of their fellow orphans, happily swimming in the river with a few other children. _

"_Mus'ad is an idiot," Rick sighed, taking a few steps towards his sister, hoping to sneak up to her and pull her away from the edge. She wasn't too big for him to just pick up and swing over his shoulder. The benefits of being six years older than her- he was always going to be bigger and strong enough to wrestle her into safety. "Lillian-" his voice dropped to a sort of growl as she took another step towards the edge, "Don't you dare- Lillian- don't you dare!"_

_The attempt at discipline had no effect on the little girl, who gave a grin and then jumped with a squeal of delight. _

_Rick was fairly certain his heart stopped._

"_Lillian Rose O'Connell you are in so much trouble!" he shouted down at his baby sister, happily splashing with the other kids in the Nile. The jump wasn't far, and it had been done safely before, but Rick did not appreciate his sister ignoring his directions._

_Maybe he never should've taught her so much about fighting for herself._

* * *

Night had fallen, and Rick and Lillian had agreed to go in shifts of sleep, to keep them on track to Hamunaptra. The others of their party were all dead asleep on their camels as Lillian lightly tapped her brother with her riding crop to wake him.

His snores cut off with a slight snort and she grinned.

"Wakey-wakey, Sleeping Beauty," she sing-songed.

Her brother just groaned and shot her a look.

"Anything interesting happen?" he asked her.

Lillian rolled her eyes, "Well, there was all the sand, and the sand, oh! And then, oddly enough, there was more sand." Rick started to smile at his sister's sarcasm, "And I almost forgot- a group of Tuareg warriors came along, attacked us all, but I single-handedly defeated them without waking any of you or getting injured. I left their bodies to have their bones bleached by the sun."

"Smart ass," was Rick's only comment.

Lillian watched as Evelyn, fast asleep, started to slowly lean off her camel, head plopping down onto Rick's shoulder. Softly, Rick pushed her back upright without waking the girl, shushing the camel when it grunted.

Lillian examined her brother, who turned back to see her watching him, "You can go to sleep now, I'm up," he whispered to her.

"What exactly is your opinion on our Miss Carnahan?" she asked instead.

Rick shot his sister a look, before shifting in his seat uncomfortably, "Well, I mean, she's a nice enough girl, isn't she? She's got a bit of spunk, spends a lot of time with her nose in a book. Plenty book smart. Bit crazy, but, I mean, who isn't?" he shrugged.

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

"Alright, I like her well enough."

"Mmm hmm."

"Stop it."

"Stop what?"

"I know what you're doing- you always do this. Now just because I look at a pretty girl does not mean you have to go all," Rick waved his hand vaguely in his sister's direction for a moment before continuing, "you know."

"And how is that any different from what you do when I'm around boys?"

"That's different."

"No it isn't."

"I'm the big brother."

"So? I look out for you just as much as you look out for me. That's our deal."

"I know- but I do not need my baby sister digging into my love life."

"Ah!" she said, pointing at him, pouncing on that last sentence like a cat on a mouse, "So you admit, you're interested in her."

Rick just groaned, rubbing his hand over his face, "Just go to sleep, Lil."

She settled herself deeper into her saddle giving her brother one final searching look, "Fine. But don't think this conversation is over."

He sighed, but said nothing, gazing out around him at the desert. His eyes caught something out in the distance- just on the crest of a ridge.

"Lil," he whispered, trying not to startle her.

"If you're about to confess your undying love for Evelyn-"

"Lil, serious time- look over there," he said with a nod to their left.

Lillian was silent for a moment as she observed the ten riders silhouetted by the night sky.

"Is it just me, or do they sort of remind you of-"

"The riders when we left Hamunaptra the first time?" her brother finished her question. "Yeah."

"Rick. What're we doing?"

The eldest O'Connell sighed, "I haven't got a damn clue."

"They aren't Tuareg. They weren't in the battle," Lillian puzzled out loud.

"Who knows. They're damn creepy bastards, that's for sure."

"We don't know for sure it's the same horsemen- I mean, we never saw anything definitive about them, just- from a distance. It could be totally different. I mean, what are the chances?"

Rick sighed, eyes heavy on the ten riders in the distance, "I hope you're right."

* * *

_Review?_


	11. Another Adventure

"_Rick," a whisper woke up the boy, who was instantly on the alert. His eyes scanned the dark room- the three other boys he shared it with were all sound asleep, the door was slightly cracked open though, when Rick knew he had closed it behind him, and a hand rested on his shoulder._

_The hand was small and connected to a thin arm which was connected to a little girl with dirty blonde hair, big blue eyes, and a stuffed camel clutched under one arm._

"_What's wrong, Lil?" the orphaned boy whispered into the dark._

"_Tell me a story," the girl demanded, crawling next to her brother and curling up into his side._

_The boy sighed. He was turning twelve in a few days, and was too young to be a parent to a just-turned-six year old, "Lil," he whined, "It's late. Why do you need a story now?"_

"_Please, I had a scary dream and I want a story," Rick made the mistake of looking down at his sister's face, and when he saw the slight pout of her lower lip, he caved._

_After all, he may have been too young to be a parent, but he had been one for the past six years nevertheless, "Alright, what story do you want?"_

"_The one about the…sailor," she decided._

"_Okay, once upon a time, there was a sailor named Sinbad, and he set out to sea to make his fortune. One day, the ship Sinbad was working on landed on what the sailors thought was an island, but was actually a gigantic whale whose back, because he was so old, had trees and grass growing on top of it. The sailors, not thinking anything of it, lit a fire to make themselves warm. But, this woke up the whale, who dove deep into the ocean to escape them. The sailors ran like mad back to their ship, which then left. But, Sinbad was left behind, swimming in the ocean._

"_Luckily, he was washed ashore onto an island, filled with trees. He meets a man who was struggling with a horse. You see, the horse had gotten too close to the water and a mighty sea monster rose out of the sea and tried to capture the horse! The man was in big trouble because he worked for the king and that horse was the king's favorite. Sinbad, remembering what happened with the whale, lit a fire and took a torch out to the sea monster, who ran away, leaving the horse behind. The man took Sinbad to meet the king, and the king liked Sinbad so much that he gave him a job. But Sinbad got bored, said goodbye to the king, and then went off to have another adventure."_

_Lillian shakes her brother slightly when he doesn't continue, "You're not finishing the story," she hissed in complaint, "You haven't even gotten to the part with the giant!"_

"_I'll finish the story another night, go to sleep now."_

* * *

The sun was on the cusp of rising as they drew up to Hamunaptra's location. Lillian sighed as she saw Beni, astride his own camel, leading the Americans and their expedition on all their horses.

"Why are we here? Again? With Beni? _Again_?" she asked, nose crinkling in distaste and shaking her head.

"This is exciting," Haytham said, bouncing slightly in his saddle.

"Good morning my friend," Beni called out, drawing his camel to a stop. Both Rick and Lillian grimaced at him, Rick giving him a barely notable nod as they drew their animals to a stop as well. The siblings and Beni all knowingly cast their glances towards a seemingly empty stretch of desert.

Rick's face was calm, stoic, Lillian's face showed her dislike at returning to this place.

"Sand and blood," she muttered, "And heat stroke."

"What the hell we doin'?" one American, Rick remembered him being called Daniels, said, staring at Beni like the man had grown a second head.

"Patience, my good barat'm. Patience," Beni advised, keeping his eyes glued to the desert as he turned his head to cast his voice back to his employers.

"Remember our bet, O'Connell," Henderson shouted across the sand to them. "First one to the city. Five hundred cash bucks!" Rick shook his head slightly, a derogatory smirk beginning to curl the edges of his mouth while Lillian rolled her eyes.

"It will be like a race!" Haytham whispered to her excitedly.

"Hundred of them bucks is your if you help us win that bet," Daniels told Beni.

"Yes, but ride carefully. We won't win if we fall off the camels," Lillian instructed the boy, knowing there was practically no stopping him.

"Oh, my pleasure," Beni told the Americans with a slight bow of his head. He turned to smirk at Rick, "Hey, O'Connell!" he shouted, and when Rick turned to acknowledge the man he continued, mocking, "Nice camel."

Rick just smirked, patting his ride on the head as the beast grunted and snorted, as if in realization it had been insulted. Lillian just kept directing her eyes across the sand.

"Get ready for it," Rick murmured to their party.

Evelyn looked around confused, then glanced back at Rick, "For what?"

"We're about to be shown the way," Rick said, nodding.

"Oh, god, I told myself I'd never come back here," Lillian groused as everyone watched the sun begin to rise swiftly, and as it's rays were cast across the sand, suddenly, like a mirage, the lost city of Hamunaptra was revealed before them, it's lines and shapes flowing down like a curtain to the sand below.

"Will you look at that?" Henderson muttered, leaning forward onto the neck of his horse.

"Can you believe it?" Daniels chimed in.

"Hamunaptra," Burns practically breathed the name, like a prayer.

Evelyn and Jonathan were hushed to silence with awe.

"Whoa," Haytham breathed out, remember all the times he'd had Rick or Lillian tell him the story of this city.

"Here we go again," Rick groaned.

"Whelp," Lillian sighed, "There's that."

As the sun finished revealing the city to them, the travelers, once hushed with wonder, immediately were spurred on- each shouting to his or her mouth, riding crops flicked, heels kicked into the sides of horses, reins given slack.

Rick and Beni were neck and neck, with Evelyn, Lillian, and Haytham right behind them. Haytham was whooping, his face split into the widest grin possible as he caught up steadily with the men.

Seeing Rick beside him, Beni began to whip the American with his crop, before Rick ripped it out of his hands, grabbing tight to Beni's shirt the same way he had on the boat.

"So long, Beni," he grinned as he tossed the man onto the ground, the camel that had once carried him continuing on without its rider.

"Well, now, serves you right," Evelyn commented as she and Lillian both pass by the man, groaning on the ground.

Haytham has the lucky advantage of being the lightest load any camel is carrying, and his stead practically flew as the boy passed Rick, giving a cheery wave and laugh to the man, who grinned and encouraged his own camel to reach new speeds, his competition for the bet forgotten as he and the boy playfully race across the desert.

Both were surprised when Evelyn passed them by with a grin and a giggle aimed at Rick, who couldn't help but smile stupidly back at her.

"Whoo-hoo!" Jonathan cheered from behind, "Whoo-hoo! Go, Evie, go!"

Haytham put on new speed, still high on competition (the boy was always seeking to be the best- whether at picking pockets, scamming tourists, or, apparently, racing camels), as Lillian, seeing that one of their group was guaranteed to win now, slowed her camel down to a brisk trot, not seeing the point in tiring the animal.

Evelyn, seeing the young boy coming up beside her, feinted encouraging her camel to go faster, while subtly letting the boy slip ahead.

Lillian grinned as the two, followed closely by Rick, slip past the small wall that she and her brother had once crouched behind in preparation for battle three years ago, and then they rode up the ramp leading into the heart of the city.

Turning her head, she saw Mr. Daniels was riding closely beside her, and she couldn't resist grinning, "Looks like you owe us five hundred dollars. Cash."

* * *

_Sinbad the Sailor and his stories are a part of a Thousand and One Nights. I thought it was realistic that Rick might've heard someone tell some of the Arabian Nights stories and like Sinbad's and so told them to his sister._

_Please, review! It makes my day. :D_


	12. Follow the Yellow Brick Road

I'M NOT DEAD! Just very swamped with school stuff. My semester is coming to a close and everything is ultra crazy right now but I am so sorry for leaving you guys hanging and I will start posting daily again (hopefully). I got into a bit of a funk where I missed a day, and then before I knew it I had missed...more than one. Sorry.

* * *

_The ground gave a soft "squish" sound as two booted feet landed with a thud. A second pair quickly followed, prompting a voice to exclaim "ew!" in a sort of hushed tone that echoed slightly through the caverns._

"_Sewers," the voice groused, "Only you would think of sewers. It's dark, it's dank, it's filthy. And I don't even wanna think about what I'm getting on my shoes."_

"_Be glad you have shoes," another voice joined in, "Last week you didn't. Besides, sewers- better than the alternative."_

"_Alright, alright," the first voice came back again, "So yes, disgusting sewers defintley better than being arrested for theft."_

"_Damn straight, baby sister, now let's get moving."_

"_How are we even going to "get moving" when we don't know where we're going? Can you even see down here?"_

_Rick O'Connell sighed and reached for his sister's hand, "C'mon, just close your eyes and picture the street above us. You know you know it like the back of your hand."_

"_Okay," Lillian grudgingly did as instructed, prompting her brother for more._

"_Here's the trick, we take a step forward down here, same as taking a step forward up there, we just have to keep track of our steps and remember- these sewers don't follow the streets, but they run under them, so use your brain. Or does your hair color mean what I think it means?"_

_Lillian punched her brother with her free hand, "Oh, shut up. I can do this."_

"_Then- follow the yellow brick road."_

_The girl was not amused by the comparison, "It is neither yellow, bricked, or a road. And all this for some lousy trinkets."_

"_Hey- I don't see you complaining about the necklace we swiped, don't complain about my new holsters."_

"_You don't even have enough guns to fit the holsters!"_

_Rick gave a slow, shit-eating grin, "Someday I will."_

* * *

Lillian obsessively checked her weapons for the third time since entering Hamunaptra. She'd reached to check them about twenty times more, but had stalled herself, not wanting to frighten Haytham, who was having a grand old time running about the ruins. The American's eyes drifted up to her fellow countrymen's dig site- they had gone for the center building in the city, and the diggers were scrambling madly in the heat at the direction of the Egyptologist the Yanks had hired.

Meanwhile, having Evelyn with them, who was practically a walking encyclopedia for Ancient Egypt (as laid out by the Bembridge Scholars), they had gone up to the statue of Anubis that Rick and Lillian were so familiar with.

"That thing gives me the creeps," Jonathan commented, looking up into the jackal's face before returning to his job adjusting an ancient mirror at his sister's direction.

"Hey, play nice- that thing saved our lives," Lillian told him, triple checking her knives were all in place.

"This "thing,"" Evelyn inserted, "Is very exciting. According to Bembridge Scholars, the statue of Anubis, whose legs go deep underground, is where we'll find a secret compartment. Containing the golden book of Amun-Ra." She adjusted her own mirror, looking up at the sun before turning to her brother, "Jonathan, you're meant to _catch_ the sun with that."

Lillian watched from the corner of her eyes as Rick, who had been tying some ropes to make it easier for them to descend underground, left his work to approach Evelyn, a leather parcel in one hand.

"So, uh-uh, what're these old mirrors for?" he stammered, as nervous as his sister had ever seen him.

"Ancient mirrors," Evelyn corrected, still struggling with her own mirror, "It's an Ancient Egyptian trick, you'll see."

Rick gave a jerky nod and Lillian's eyebrows rose. As much as she hated to think about it (and she _hated_ to think about it because- ew.) her brother was normally very suave with women, or at least smooth enough that he had no trouble…yeah. Again, ew. But every time he got around the little Evelyn he seemed to have a permanent affliction of foot-in-mouth syndrome. Rick nervously brought the leather parcel he had been carrying before Evelyn's gaze, "Uh, here, this is for, uh, you. Go ahead. lt's something l borrowed off our American brethren," he tried (and failed) to give his usual confidant smirk, as Evelyn took the parcel, "l thought you might like it- you might need it," Lillian unabashedly stared while her brother floundered, "For when you're, uh- uh, yeah." Rick retreated, making vague hand gestures and continuing to stammer.

He noticed his sister's look and glared at her, "Shut up," he hissed at her while she continued to stare. Rick went back to his ropes, prepping to go down, and Lillian observed as Evelyn opened the parcel to find it was a tool kit, smiling softly before her eyes landed on Rick, her expression sweet as she clutched the tools to her.

Oh, boy, Lillian was going to have to watch this closely.

She stood as Haytham ran back over, eager to follow Rick into the dark hole.

Sometimes Lillian wondered about the boy's self-preservation skills. They were rather spotty.

Pushing the boy gently to the side, she made sure she followed her brother down, landing in a dark room.

"Oh, well," she said, brushing the dust off her pants, "At least we don't have to worry about heat stroke down here."

Evelyn followed with Haytham immediately after. Lillian had to grab the boy by the shoulders to keep him from running off into the darkness. Jonathan was last down the rope as Evelyn stood in awe beside Rick as he held up a solitary torch.

"Do you realize that we're standing inside a room that no one has entered in over three thousand years?" she asked rhetorically, her voice hushed in wonder.

"Whew," Jonathan said as his feet hit the ground, shaking his hands, "That rope isn't made of the softest stuff."

"Is it just me or is it pretty empty in here?" Lillian asked, looking around.

"You're welcome to my share of the cobwebs," her brother joked.

Evelyn just rolled her eyes and strode towards some disc, wiping cobwebs off it.

"And then there was," she began, tiling the ancient object, "light," she finished, as the mirror (for it was a mirror) caught the light from above and bounced it around the room to various other mirrors scattered throughout, illuminating the whole room.

"Wow," Haytham breathed out.

"Hey," Rick grinned, stepping further into the room, "That is a neat trick."

"Clever," Lillian agreed with a nod.

"Oh my god," Evelyn said, looking around in excitement, "It's a sah-netjer."

"Huh?" Rick asked.

"I second the question," Lillian said, raising a hand.

"A preparation room," Evelyn explained as the group moved further in, Lillian still gripping tight to Haytham so he wouldn't wander off.

"Preparation for what?" Rick asked, looking over at the Englishwoman.

"For entering the afterlife," she tried to say spookily, but the glee in her voice was hard to hide.

"Ew," Lillian said, making the connection.

"Mummies, my good son," Jonathan said to Rick, lighting his own torch from Rick's, "This is where they made the mummies."

"An ancient morgue. Oh boy," Lillian sarcastically added.

"It's like a labyrinth in here," Rick said, extending his arm to let the torch consume the cobwebs before them, before offering it to his sister so she could light her own.

"Alright, let's stick together," Lillian cast a significant glance at Haytham, who struggled to look innocent. "Rick, you want lead, I'm guessing?"

"Damn right I do," her brother replied, taking out one of his pistols.

"Really, is that necessary?" Evelyn asked, "What do you think is down here?"

"Evil," both siblings responded in union, completely serious. Evelyn quieted, but rolled her eyes.

"Haytham, you're up here with me, buddy," Rick said, gesturing the boy to stand behind him, "You're gonna be my left."

"Like Lily?" the boy asked, bouncing into position.

"Exactly," Rick nodded, "Now, Lil, you mind taking the rear?"

In response his sister cocked her own pistol and took position.

"Let's go," Rick said, leading them into one of the tunnels that, if his sense of direction was any good (and it was more than good), would lead them in the direction of the Anubis statue. The all came to a stop, when they heard a skittering sound all around, as if coming from all directions. Everyone was twisting and turning, trying to pinpoint the source of the noise, before it died down and dissipated.

"What was that?" Jonathan muttered.

"Sounds like," Rick cast a glance around; moving forward more slowly, making sure to angle himself so that Haytham, desperate to remain on his left, was slightly behind, he continued, "Bugs."

Lillian groaned, "Just what this trip needed to liven things up."

They followed the tunnel and took several turns, before finally entering another chamber, bronze legs descending from the ceiling, faintly shining in the torchlight.

"The legs of Anubis," Evelyn breathed out as they each enter the chamber. "The secret compartment should be hidden somewhere inside here." Evelyn was entirely absorbed in the statue, Jonathan a step behind her, while Rick and Lillian continued to scan the room around them, on edge.

Lillian could feel the hairs on the back of her neck standing up, and maneuvered so she was closer to Haytham, who was still trying to remain glued to Rick's left side.

Suddenly, a sound echoes through the chamber. If Lillian had to describe it, she'd say it was a sort of whispered bark. Everyone turned sharply, the flames sputtering at the quick movement, as the chamber suddenly seemed to be filled with the sounds of some sort of moaning or chanting. Lillian and Rick lined the group up against the base of the statue, sure the sound was coming from the other side, just out of sight. The O'Connell siblings stood side-by-side, Haytham, feeling afraid, not complaining about Lillian reassuming her position to her brother's left. Rick cocked one pistol and took the second out of the holster while Lillian passed both their torches to Haytham before doing the same. They slowly stepped closer and closer to the sound, ready to jump around the corner and face whatever evil whose sleep they'd disturbed.

With a nod at each other, the siblings leapt out, shouting, pistols pointed at their foe, even Jonathan pulling one out of his coat, Evelyn and Haytham behind them.

They found themselves faced with, not a monster, but the American expedition, all three Yanks and Beni with pistols aimed at their heads just as their own guns were aimed at them, diggers and Egyptologist behind them.

Lillian let out a sigh as the Americans recognized the other party and guns were lowered.

"You scared the bejesus out of us, O'Connell," Henderson said almost accusingly. Likewise, Rick grinned, he and Lillian, still on edge, only now lowering their own pistols.

"Hey," Burns suddenly took a step forward, spotting the leather kit clutched in Evelyn's hand, "That's my tool kit." His voice was accusing.

"I don't think so," with Rick's words, both O'Connells and Jonathan sharply raised their pistols, inspiring Daniels and Henderson to do the same along with Beni.

"O-kay," Burns said, backing away, Rick's guns right in his face, "Perhaps I was mistaken."

Guns were lowered once more as Evelyn spoke, "Well, have a nice day, gentlemen, we have a lot of work to be getting along with."

"Push off!" the Egyptologist rudely shouted from behind Burns and Daniels. "This is our dig site," he proclaimed pompously.

"We got here first," Evelyn immediately countered, eyes narrowed.

With that all guns were quickly raised again.

"This here's _our_ statue, friend," Daniels told Rick, voice dangerous.

As if that would frighten an O'Connell, "I don't see your name written on it, _pal_."

"Yes, well," Beni inserted with his annoying voice, "There is only five," he cast a glance at Haytham, "Four and a half of you. And fifteen of me," he grinned as the soft sound of stones falling echoed through the chamber, "Your odds are not so great, O'Connell."

Lillian took great pleasure in pointing her pistols directly at Beni.

"Those are just the kinda odds I like," she said with a grin.

"I've had worse," her brother hissed from between his teeth.

"Yeah," Jonathan added, his face surprisingly serious, "Me, too." This caused Rick to shoot an incredulous glance at the Englishman, who just gave a small nod.

"Well, l-look, for goodness sake," Evelyn said, stepping (rather unwisely, or bravely, depending how you look at it, Lillian thought) between the men. "Let's be nice, children," she began, using her spare hand to softly push down on some of the American's guns, causing them to drop them, "If we're going to play together we must learn to share," with that said, she gave a significant look to Rick, "There are _other_ places to dig," she told him, her hand rising up to push down on his arm. After looking into her face for a few seconds, Rick uncocked his pistols and lowered them with a grin, spurring Lillian to do the same.

Though she was mighty tempted to shoot the smug grin of Beni's face as she followed her companions out of the chamber, making sure Haytham was within reach. The sound of the American's laughter follows her out of the chamber and back into the passages as Evelyn quickly whispers to Rick about a room below.

They successfully navigate themselves into the room Evelyn spoke of.

"Nice work," Lilian complimented the Englishwoman as she and Rick moved some old statues under where Evelyn thought the statue was, grabbing a pickaxe and standing on them.

"Thank you," Evelyn said with a smile, "Now, according to these hieroglyphics, we're underneath the statue," she told them as Lillian, Rick, and Jonathan all chip away at the ceiling. "We should come up right between his legs."

Rick couldn't help but grin at Evelyn's unintentional innuendo.

"When those damn Yanks go to sleep," Jonathan began before tossing a quick, "No offense," to the O'Connells.

"None taken," the both replied.

"We'll dig our way up and steal that book right out from under them," Jonathan finished with a grin, pleased with how sneaky the whole plan was.

"Are you sure you can find this secret compartment thing?" Rick asked Evelyn as he grunts with exertion.

"Oh, yes," she replied in a brisk tone, "If those beastly Americans haven't beaten us to it," then, like her brother, she reiterated, "No offense."

"None taken," the siblings repeated in unison.

Lillian cast a look around the room, "Where's Haytham?" she asked, realizing the boy had wandered off.

"Oh," Evelyn said, also looking around, "Oh, dear."

Rick and Lillian both hopped down, leaving the Carnahans to the excavating as they went off in search for the boy.

"We'll be back," Rick tells them, picking up a torch, "_With_ the little urchin, hopefully."

Haytham was having the time of his life- the tunnels were extensive, some were really only crawl spaces were someone of his size could get through, and the walls were decorated with all sorts of interesting things.

He found a drawing of a man, arms raised, with lots of holes in him. It reminded the boy of Swiss cheese, something Lily had managed to steal once as a treat for them all. Imbedded in some of the holes, though, were little scarabs, that sparked in the light when he brushed them off. They were all blue and gold, and Haytham was reminded of Lily and her hair and eyes.

Thinking his, for all purposes, adoptive mother would like one, he reached forward to pry a scarab off the wall.

"There you are," a deep voice came from behind, and Haytham, with reflexes from thieving on the streets, ripped his hand away from the wall and turned to see Rick O'Connell crawling through the passage, torch gripped in one hand. "You've got Lil all worried about you. Now what have we said about wandering off? Especially here?" the man stood as he reached the chamber, hands on hips. "Now, come on, scuttle on back to the others now," he made a shooing motion with your hands, "You ought to be in a lot of trouble for this, but knowing Lil she'll just give you a look and sit you down somewhere where she can keep an eye on you."

Haytham did as he was told, not protesting, and feeling a bit guilty for making Lillian worry.

When they reentered the room the others were in Rick clapped a hand on Haytham's shoulder and announced, "Found the troublemaker," before lightly pushing him in the direction of Lillian. As predicted, the American woman gave the boy a "look," before gesturing for him to sit down somewhere within easy view.

"Big trouble," she told him, one finger pointing at the boy as he sheepish sat down.

The lost boy found, the adults returned to work.

* * *

_Again, I checked- Wizard of Oz was published in 1900, so we're not anachronistic._

_Please, please, please, review?_


	13. Black Diamonds

"_C'mon, Haytham, bed," Rick said, sighing. Lillian had gone out on some date or another and Rick found himself home alone with the little urchin. And he also found out why Lillian swore Haytham was stubborn as a mule._

"_Lily told me you used to tell her stories. Can you tell me one?" the boy asked, still bouncing around the room, clearly energized._

_Rick sighed- perhaps a story would calm the kid down long enough where he'd fall asleep._

_Otherwise, extreme steps would have to be taken. He was sure there were some sleeping pills around here somewhere._

"_Okay, how about a story about Sinbad?"_

"_Who?"_

"_The sailor. Go get comfortable, and I'll tell you the damn story."_

_The boy settles, eyes wide._

"_Now, Sinbad was moseying around the world- trying to find some adventure, and one day, his shipmates accidently left him on an island, not realizing Sinbad hadn't come back to the ship with everyone else."_

"_How did they not notice?" Haytham asked, eyes squinted in disbelief._

"_I don't know," Rick sighed, "They just didn't. They were distracted or something. Anyways, Sinbad, feeling kinda bored, decides to go exploring the island, and do you know what he found?"_

"_What?"_

"_Eggs. Eggs the size of a horse. Massive eggs. And there were all gathered together in a nest, like a bird. And while Sinbad was having a good poke around, the momma bird came back._

"_It was huge- bigger than a horse- bigger than a house! And it swooped on down to check out what was happening. Sinbad, thinking he'd like an adventure and not really thinking much on the danger, grabbed onto the bird and held on as it flew away._

"_It flew all the way to this valley, and Sinbad looked down from the sky and saw snakes. Snakes that were so big, they'd swallow an elephant," Rick snapped his fingers, "No problem. Now, the bird swooped down and snagged a snake and Sinbad got off that ride lickety split. The birds apparently ate the snakes. But what really caught Sinbad's attention wasn't the birds, or the snakes, but how the entire valley was coated in diamonds. Black diamonds that sparkled in the sunlight."_

"_Whoa," Haytham said, eyes wide._

"_Exactly. Now, Sinbad hid behind a big diamond to watch the goings-on, trying to figure stuff out. And while he was watching, some merchants came to the top of the valley. Looking down, they threw huge slabs of meet- stuff that must be the size of horses. Some of the smaller diamonds scattered on the ground would get stuck on the meat, the birds would pick it up, and take it to their nests. The men would all get together and frighten the birds away long enough to grab the diamonds, and then they'd sell them._

"_Well, Sinbad was a pretty clever cat, and so he started using his sword and whatever he had on him to knock off huge chunks of diamonds, and gathered them up into a big pack on his back. When the merchants came back, threw in some more meat, Sinbad grabbed onto it and let the bird carry him back to the nest._

"_The merchants were pretty surprised to find a man in the nest with all the black diamonds, but they helped him out and helped him get back to Baghdad, and Sinbad made a fortune with all the diamonds he had."_

"_Where's Baghdad?" Haytham asked, not looking the least bit tired._

"_It's in Iraq. Now will you go to bed?"_

It was break time, and while Lillian checked her weaponry again, she quietly observed the others of their group. Rick and Evelyn had gone off to the side, sitting down and talking about, of all things, mummification. Evelyn seemed enthusiastic about a topic she knew so well, and Rick appeared to be going along for the ride. Meanwhile, Jonathan was practicing his golf swing while Haytham chattered his ear off.

"Let me get this straight," Rick said, "They ripped out your guts, and they stuffed them in jars."

"Lily gave me my name," Haytham was telling Jonathan, "No one ever gave me a proper name before, so Lily gave me one."

"You never had a name until you met Lillian and O'Connell?" Jonathan said, surprised.

"Then they ripped out your heart as well," Evelyn instructed Rick.

"She named me Haytham cuz it means "little eagle" and they're American so they like eagles!" Jonathan gave Haytham a grin, the boy's enthusiasm was infectious.

"Oh!" Evelyn exclaimed, eyes lighting up, "And you know how they took out your brains?" Rick was grinning slightly at the Englishwoman's glee.

"Evie, I don't think we need to know this," Jonathan interjected, hearing the turn the conversation had taken.

"They take a sharp," Evelyn ignored her brother, "Red hot poker, stick it up your nose," she gestured an imitation with one of her tools, "Scrambled things about a bit and then rip it all out through your nostrils."

"Ewwww," Haytham interjected.

"That's gotta hurt," Rick touched his own nose in sympathy.

"It's called mummification," Evelyn stated matter-of-factly, "you'll be dead when they do this."

"For the record," Rick announced to the room, "We make it out of here, don't put me down for mummification."

"Likewise," Jonathan said, swinging and hitting a small stone. It hit something with a clink and then a large stone casement dropped from the ceiling right in front of Rick and Evelyn with a crash.

"Rick!" Lillian shouted, jumping up.

"I'm good," he answered, as they all stared at what had been dropped practically on their heads.

"Oh my god," Evelyn said, eyes scanning their latest find. "It's a- it's a sarcophagus."

"I'm no expert," Lillian said, "But those don't typically drop down like that, do they?"

"Not typically," Evelyn answered, "no."

They all cough as the dust settled and gaze back up at where the sarcophagus dropped from.

"Buried at the feet of Anubis," Evelyn murmured, "He must have been someone of _great _importance." She paused for a moment before looking at the group, "Or- he did something… very naughty."

The group stepped forward, Lillian pushing Haytham back slightly, still on edge, while Rick and Evelyn started dusting off the lid.

"Well," Jonathan asked, pacing around them. Lillian can't help but grip her gun tighter. "Who is it?"

Evelyn translated the hieroglyph out loud, "He that shall not be named," she told them, and the room was suddenly filled with an ominous feeling.

"So, something very naughty would be my bet then," Lillian said, her eyes jumping from place to place around the room.

Rick bent down and blew some dust off another section, examining the odd indentation, "This looks like some sort of…lock," he said, pointing at it, the scarab design surrounded by what looked like points of a sun.

"Well whoever's in here sure wasn't getting out," Jonathan said, scanning the stone up and down.

"Yeah, no kidding," Rick muttered. "Take us a _month_ to crack into this thing without a key."

"Maybe longer," Lillian added just as Evelyn mused, "A key…" suddenly the Englishwoman's eyes widened, "A key! A key! Now, _that's_ what he was talking about!" She bent down to her bags and started digging through.

"Who was talking about what?" Rick asked Jonathan and Lillian, both of whom shrugged.

"The man!" Evelyn answers, standing up with Rick's puzzle box in one hand, "The man on the barge," she waved her spare hand around, "The one with a hook. He- he was looking for a _key_." She opened the box.

"Hey, that's mine," Jonathan whined, pointing.

"Actually, it's Rick's," Lillian corrected, "You pick pocketed, remember?"

Evelyn ignored the two and places the box, face down, on top of the scarab. It fitted perfectly. She gave a grin.

* * *

_If you're wondering- yes, I am pairing up these flashbacks with the chapter they are in purposefully. There is always some sort of connection._

_Review?_


	14. A Shine To

"_So what exactly are we doin' here?" Rick asked his sister as she and he both scrounged together some dinner, "With the kid?"_

_Lillian's eyebrows furrow as she seems to only just now consider why there is a street urchin living in their house for the past month, eating their food (and stealing some for them), and hanging about them._

"_I…don't know," she slowly said, "I guess we're…watching out for him?"_

_Rick sighed and stopped slicing bread to give his sister a look, "Watching out don't involve a whole lot of…parenting."_

_Lillian shrugged, "I wouldn't know. You've always watched out for me so that's all I've got to compare to."_

"_You've taken a shine to him, haven't you?" her brother asked, arms crossing across his chest._

"_And you haven't?" Lillian immediately called him on his bull._

"_Ok, you might have a point there. I mean the kid is winsome enough, but can we take care of someone besides us?" he gestures at the two of them with one finger._

"_Of course we can," the girl stated briskly, "We can do anything."_

* * *

The group with the exception of Rick is gathered round the fire, trying to ward off the night's chill. Haytham is practically dozing on Lillian's lap, while the Carnahan siblings sit across from them.

"Seems," Rick joined them, crouching down beside Evelyn, putting his rifle to the side, "Our American friends had a little misfortune today. Three of their diggers were- uh…melted."

"What?" Evelyn asked at the same time her brother queried, "How?"

"Salt acid," Rick answered, grimacing, "Pressurized salt acid. Some kind of…ancient booby trap."

Lillian hissed in a breath before sighing.

"Maybe this place really is cursed," Jonathan murmured. As if in response, the wind swept through the city, causing the fire to flicker.

Evelyn looked around the campfire at everyone's wary faces, "Oh for goodness sakes," she said, annoyed, "You three!"

"You don't believe in curses, huh?" Rick asked, prodding the fire.

"No I don't," Evelyn immediately answered back, "I believe if I can see it and I can touch it, then it's real. That's what I believe."

Rick and Lillian exchanged a glance, Rick reaching for his rifle while Lillian flexed her legs, feeling her various knives pressed up against her, and gripped her pistol.

"I believe in being prepared," Rick cocked the rifle for emphasis.

"And what about you, Miss O'Connell?" Jonathan asked, "What do you believe in?"

She gave a shrug, "I guess, in the whole world? Probably Rick. Him and a well-balanced knife."

They heard the distant sound of horses neighing, and Rick and Lillian exchanged another look. Waking Haytham gently, Lillian stood with her brother.

"Take this," Rick handed his rifle to Evelyn, "Stay here," he ordered.

"Haytham, watch here," Lillian instructed, following Rick into the American's camp.

"No!" Evelyn cried, getting up and carrying the rifle, "Wait, wait! Wait for me! Wait!" she followed after the O'Connells.

"Evie," her brother called after her, getting up as well, "Excuse me but didn't the man just say "Stay here?" Evie!"

Seeing the others following, Haytham jumped up and ran after the group as well.

"Hey! Guys! You should listen to Mr. Rick!"

When Lillian and Rick reached the American camp they found chaos- the men were running out of the tents as black riders- the same ones, Lillian was sure, as had been watching them from above ridges whenever she and Rick had been near Hamunaptra- stormed into their camp, with a battle cry and torches held high in the air.

As Lillian followed behind her brother, Beni knocked into her, causing her to fall against a wall.

"You," she growled, in no mood to deal with the coward, "What're you doing here?"

"Ah-" Beni stammered, "Wait a moment-." He looked closer into her face. "O'Donnell?"

Lillian just raised an eyebrow, "Took you this long?" She rolled her eyes and grabbed Beni by his shirt, "C'mon," she lead him back to the American's camp.

"Why do you like to fight so much?" Beni asked her.

"Cuz I always have to chase after my dumb ass brother, that's why."

Rifles were being shot, and torches thrown into tents. Lillian immediately joined her brother who was shooting the fray from a higher vantage point on a piece of ruin.

They kept shooting, making sure to hit their marks- a challenge in the darkened chaos, with sand being kicked up by men and horses alike.

"O'Connell!" they heard Jonathan shouting, and they turned to see the man himself, pistol in hand, running from a horseman, sabre raised to strike, "O'Connell!"

"Why are we the heroes?" Lillian asked her brother as Jonathan and his pursuer ran towards them. As the horseman was about to pass by, Rick took a leap and talked the man off his horse, onto the ground. "Oh," his sister said, taking careful aim at the next rider approaching, "That's why."

She noticed the swordsman knock the gun out of her brother's hand with his blade, and she rolled her eyes before leaping in herself, standing between the man and her brother, gun cocked and aimed.

"I'd stop right there if I were you," she threatened. The swordsman, perhaps astonished to find a woman (a woman in pants, no less) in the thick of things, paused.

"Lily!" she heard a voice cry out, and was distracted enough to automatically turn her head to look for Haytham, eyes widened with worry. The boy ran to her, the warriors evidently not sure what to do with a child in their midst. When Haytham reached her, she wrapped one arm around him, keeping him pressed against her side while her pistol remained on the man across from her.

The distraction was long enough for Rick to go with his favorite contingency plan.

Lighting a stick of dynamite.

Rick and Lillian stood back to back in a circle of men in black robes, Lillian holding out her gun, Rick holding out the dynamite and its lit fuse, Haytham pressed against Lillian's side. They circled, backs pressed together, each sibling taking in each man that surrounded them.

"Enough!" the swordsman who had pursued Rick called out. He was evidently the leader, "Yallah!" The entire camp fell silent except for the swordsman's voice and the crackling of Rick's burning fuse. "We will shed no more blood. But you must _leave_. Leave this place or die. For the sake of the child, if not yourselves." With a nod, the man walked away, his riders also leaving the city. "You have one day!" he called back, before leaping onto a white stallion. "Yallah!" he called to his men, "Nimshi!"

Rick and Lillian watched solemnly as the riders disappeared into the desert night. Rick plucked the fuse out of the dynamite, tossing it to the side.

"You know I hate when you do that," his sister muttered to him. Holstering her pistol and wrapping both arms around Haytham, pressing him to her.

"It worked, didn't it?" he asked her, faking offense. He started to turn and then saw Evelyn lying on the ground, Rick's elephant gun still in her hands.

"Evelyn?" he asked, voice hushed as he took the rifle away from her before bending over her and helping her to sit up. Lillian watched cautiously as Rick cradled the woman's head in the palm of his hand, "Hey," he continued to speak in that soft tone, helping her up, "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine," she answered, her voice pitched just as soft as his, "Thank you," she sighed as Rick tilted her face with a hand, examining it for injury.

"See, that _proves_ it!" Daniels exclaimed, his voice filled with excitement. Lillian turned to face the Americans, standing together with the Egyptologist, and smirked at Burns, who had evidently been half-way through shaving when the attack occurred. "Old Seti's fortune's gotta be under this sand!"

"For them to protect it like this, you just _know_ there's treasure down there," Henderson added.

"No," Rick said, "These men are a desert people."

"They value water, not gold," Lillian finished her brother's thought, "Gold gets them nothing out here."

"You know, ah," Burns straightened himself as he walked beside Rick and Evelyn. "Maybe just at night, we could- ah- combine forces."

Rick said nothing, but Lillian gestured to the right side of her face, "You missed a spot," she told the American, going off to get the rest of her things, leading Haytham along with her.

They boy may have spent a lot of time in the streets, but he had never seen a battle like that, and he wasn't interested in letting go of her anytime soon. Lillian was stuck on the warrior leader's phrase, "For the sake of the child, if not yourselves."

It was evident that none of their attackers were interested in harming a child, so what fate, exactly, did the man fear would befall Haytham?

Lillian looked down at the boy clinging to her side, and worried.

"Well that was bracing," Jonathan interjected as the group rejoined around their own fire. "And did I panic?" he asked, raising up a bottle, "Seagrams! Some rather nice gin, those Americans had."

"Can I-?" Haytham began.

"No," Lillian and Rick immediately cut the boy off.

They put the child to bed and the adults all took some healthy swigs from the bottle- each unnerved by the words of the black-robed warrior in their own way.

They got ossified very quickly.

Jonathan collapsed on his blanket, snoring slightly, while Rick tried to teach Evelyn some self-defense. Not that anyone was terribly coordinated at that point. Lillian curled up in her own bed, trying to fall asleep and give them some privacy- for as little tact as her brother had, she had managed to pick up a few social cues in her life.

"Hey, tough stuff, try a right hook," Rick instructed, "Ball up your fist and put it," he adjusted her arm, "Put it up like that. And then mean it," he smacked his right hand, giving her a target, "Hit it right here."

Evelyn nodded, going in for a wide swing while grunting, "I mean it!" she over swung though, and ending up twirling around, losing her balance, leaving Rick to catch her before she fell to the ground. She dissolved into hysterical giggles.

"Oh, okay. You know, when I taught Lil this stuff, I think it really helped that we weren't tanked. Time for another drink," he helped Evelyn sit down as she grabbed the bottle from her sleeping brother's clutches, still giggling.

"Unlike my brother, sir," she slurred, "I know when to say "no."" Despite her statement, she took another swig.

"Uh-huh," Rick nodded with a grin, "And unlike your brother, miss, you- I just don't get."

Grimacing at the strong taste of the gin Evelyn nodded, "Ah, I know." She replaced the bottle in her brother's arm, continuing, "You're wondering: what is a place like me doing in a girl like this?"

Rick grinned, "Yeah, something like that." He was suddenly pretty glad he held off on drinking too much- he didn't want any booze clouding memories of drunk Evelyn. These would be funny for years.

"Well, Egypt," she explained, leaning closer, "Is in my blood," she held on of her hands before him, as if the skin and flesh would give way to the blood itself, and the blood would reveal the connection she spoke of. "You see, my-my father," she picked up a locket she wore round her neck, "Was a very, very famous explorer," she opened the locket, revealing two pictures, "And he loved Egypt so much, he married my mother- who was an Egyptian. And quite an adventurer herself.

Rick nodded, "I get your father, and I get your mother. I get him," he pointed to the sleeping Jonathan, "I get Lil and Haytham. But- what are _you_ doing here?" he looked sharply at the woman, trying to pry her secrets from her. To understand. Rick O'Connell never claimed to be a people person- he generally insulted rather than flattered and was well aware he could be abrasive, but growing up as he did lent him a desperate need to understand people and their motivations- if he didn't understand someone's motivations, it could end with a knife to his throat or Lil's. So while he rarely used his charm except on women he planned to later leave, he always understood people.

Except this girl.

Who was now looking rather incised by his question.

"Oooh," she growled, "Look, I- I may not be an explorer," she pushed herself up into a standing position, "Or-or an adventurer," Rick had to reach out a hand to steady her from swaying, "Or-or a treasure-seeker or a gunfighter! _Mister O'Connell_. But I am _proud_ of what I am."

"And" Rick asked cautiously, not sure which way her mood would swing, "What is that?"

"I," she declared, still swaying slightly, "Am a _librarian_. " She turned to him with an adorable grin, falling to her knees before him while he tried to puzzle out exactly what that last statement was meant to illuminate.

Her grin suddenly was wiped away as she grew serious and whispered, "I am going to kiss you, Mr. O'Connell."

"Call me Rick," he told her, nodding and trying not to smile at her antics. Or in anticipation.

She sighed and her smile appeared once more, wide and without pretense, "Rick," she grinned, straightening her face again and leaning into him. His eyes closed and he leaned forward as well, expecting to feel her lips on his at any second.

Except she'd evidently had one swig too many and face-planted, unconscious, in his lap.

Shaking his head in disbelief, he picked her up and put her to bed.

"Well, thank god, I was wondering how long I'd have to keep pretending to sleep," Lillian's voice came from under her blankets, and she rolled over to face her brother.

"You're awake!" he shouted, "Why didn't you say something?"

"Because I was hoping to fall asleep and quite frankly, at what point should I have interrupted?"

Rick sputtered for a few moments before choosing to ignore the question.

"Rick?" Lillian called, sitting up and scotching herself beside her brother.

"What's the matter, Lil?" he asked, ever the concerned big brother.

"That man- the one who lead the attack. It's been bothering me all night."

"What do you mean?" Rick prompted, prodding the fire.

"I mean, he said "leave this place or die," which kind of implied they'd kill us if we didn't leave, but then he said "for the sake of the child, if not yourselves," which kinda implied that it was something…else. That would do the killing."

"I don't know, Lil, that's a bit beyond my way of thinking."

"They wore black robes," she muttered.

"Like the ones we saw before," her brother nodded.

"And…_before_," she said with some significance. They were silent for several heartbeats, "Rick," she began again, "That…evil. Whatever is out here- in all the sand and blood- it's something…. Rick, what do you think it is?"

Her brother said nothing, staring into the fire, before he turned and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Go to sleep," he murmured to her, before standing and heading to his own bed for the night.

Somehow, that made Lillian feel even worse than if he had answered the question.

* * *

_Ossified = 1920's slang for drunk._

_The more you know._


	15. Dreams of Death

_Sometimes Rick dreams of death._

_He'll wake up, heart pounding, but limbs steady- as if in preparation for something._

_What, he doesn't know._

_But sometimes he dreams of death._

_He watches as his mother (the first death he was familiar with), placed a baby in his arms before her eyes rolled up into her head and her breath came in a sort of sigh while the midwife in the room with them scrambled and yelled something about bleeding._

_He remembers the man in the back alley who groaned as his opponent shoved a knife into his gut, sliding down onto his knees and then, when the knifeman took a step to the side, falling, face-down._

_He pictures some of the kids at the orphanage, coughing and gasping for air as disease took them slowly, and he tried to keep Lil far from the house._

_He feels the weight of a gun in his hand and screams on a battlefield while adrenaline pumps and his heart pounds but his hands don't shake, because if they do, it's pretty much over._

_He imagines Lil dying. In all the various ways it could've happened. Childbirth with their mother, TB with fellow orphans, a victim of a street fight spiraling out of control, as a causality of war._

_Sometimes Rick dreams of death._

_He often thinks he'll be able to rest the days he begins to dream about life._

* * *

Jonathan and Rick both grunted as they began maneuvering the sarcophagus. Haytham, amusing himself with the other artifacts in the rooms, accidently knocked a statue down, causing it to bang loudly on the floor. Jonathan and Evelyn both gave a slight wince, the sound no doubt making them truly feel their hangover.

"I can't believe I allowed you to get me drunk," Evelyn grimaced.

"Don't look at me," Jonathan told her, huffing slightly with the weight of the stone, "I don't even remember being there."

"Neither do I," Evelyn moaned.

"That's a shame," Lillian chimed in, "It seemed like you and Rick were having a good time when I went to bed."

Rick shot his sister a glare while Evelyn gave her a slightly shocked and panicked look.

Lillian just smirked and helped Jonathan balance the sarcophagus.

It landed against the wall with a thud that made Jonathan wince again, but evidently all hangovers were forgotten for Evelyn as soon as she was faced with the prospect of discovering more to this burial.

"Oh," she sighed, coming up to it, eyes gleaming bright, "I've dreamed about this since I was a little girl."

"You dream about dead guys?" Rick asked her.

"Evie- you need a new hobby," was Lillian's suggestion.

"Oh look," Evelyn continued, undeterred, "His sacred spells have been chiseled off. This man must've been condemned not only in this life, but in the next."

"Talk about curses," Lillian muttered.

"Tough break," Rick commented.

"Yeah," Jonathan grunted, fitting the key into the lock, "I'm all tears," he grunted some more as he twisted the key round. "Now, let's see who's inside, shall we?"

Both men gripped either edge of the stone lid, pulling, while Evelyn backed out of their way and Lillian pulled Haytham to the side as well.

Anticipation was high and the lid flew off, smoke pouring out along with a fightening skeleton popping out, as if to examine them.

Evelyn screamed, Lillian couldn't help but automatically reach for her gun and aim at the mummy. Rick and Jonathan both jumped while Haytham gripped onto Lillian.

"God," Evelyn said once everyone started to calm down, "I _hate_ it when these things do that."

"This happens often?" Lillian asked.

"Is he supposed to look like that?" Rick grimaced.

"No," Evelyn shook her head, "I've never seen a mummy look like this before. He's still- still-."

"Juicy," Rick and Jonathan said in unison.

"Yes," Evelyn immediately agreed. "He must be more than three thousand years old, and-and, well- it looks as if he's still…decomposing."

"Why did they paint the lid?" Haytham asked, squinting at it from where Lillian held him.

"That's not paint. What's up with that?" Lillian asked, causing the other three to turn around and look.

"My god," Evelyn gasped, holding her hand up against the lines that were scattered across the lid's interior. "These marks were made with…fingernails. This man was buried alive. And he left a message," she pointed to some writing.

"What's it say?" Haytham asked, bouncing in excitement as Lillian's bad feeling turned worse.

"Death is only the beginning," Evelyn translated.

Rick looked around, "I want my gun," he told his sister, who nodded.

* * *

_Review?_


	16. Mist On the Water

"_Hey, Lil," Rick asked one night, deeply plastered at that point in the evening. So much so, that Lillian had hauled him out of the bar and was taking him to where they were currently staying in Lebanon._

"_Yes, Rick, my darling brother?" she grunted as he stumbled on the steps and she had to hold his entire body weight for a few moments._

_Her brother was damn heavy._

"_How come you've never asked me about mom?"_

_She looked down into his glazed eyes, confused, "What do you mean?"_

"_Well," he sighed, blowing his alcohol-scented breath in her face, causing her to grimace and flinch away, "I mean, I know I've told you that dad walked out on us, and I guess I'm not surprised you don't want to hear about such a low-life. But I told you mom died, and I told you how, but you never really, you know, ask. You don't ask what she looked like, what she smelled like-."_

"_What did she smell like, Rick?" she asked, more to humor him than anything else._

"_Sweat, flour, and desert sand, but you're not really asking me that. How come you don't want to know all about her? I mean, I was six, I remember plenty."_

_Lillian leaned her brother up against the wall as she reached for her keys- one hand still out to steady him. She lead him in and helped him to get into his bed without falling and hurting himself. She began to take off his shoes and wrangle his holster off him._

"_Lil," Rick said, "Lil," he repeated, "Lil," he sing-songed. She meet his eyes, which was clearly what he was waiting for, because he continued, "You didn't answer my question."_

_Lillian sighed and pulled the blankets up on her soused brother, sitting beside him on the bed for a moment as she tried to find a way to say what she felt. She gave a shrug, "I don't ask about her because- I guess she's just a sort of…fairytale to me. Not even that she's an…an idea. Not something tangible, not something that can affect my world or my life. I don't ask about her because…and don't take this the wrong way, Rick, but it's because she doesn't matter. I mean, she matters to you, obviously, but you knew her. She was a flesh and blood person for you. To me, she's just…mist on the water. Something that can make things hazy but, a few hours in the sun and it's vanished like it was never there. _

"_You raised me. You're what matters. Not dad or even mom- they don't…they don't fit in my scheme of things. My world view, I guess. It's you. You're my family, you're my only family, and you've always been my only family. Anyone else just seems…_ _ephemeral."_

_Rick was silent for a moment. Two._

"_That was a big ass word for someone as drunk as I am."_

* * *

They had gathered around a communal campfire, Rick and Lillian both tense- thinking of the warning "You have one day," while Beni and Jonathan sat beside them.

"So," Beni grinned, "O'Donnell, huh?" he chuckled.

Lillian rolled her eyes, "Yes, Beni. A woman disguised herself to fight in a battle and still showed more bravery than you. Tell me, did you ever find that stick to replace your spine?" Rick just chuckled. Beni went silent.

"Say, O'Connell," Henderson called out as the three Yankees strolled up to the fire. "What do you think these babies will fetch back home?" each man was holding a canopic jar, looking at them proudly.

"Canopic jars?" Lillian examined them dispassionately, "Maybe twenty dollars each. They're pretty common, far as artifacts go. Though, you might manage to get a tad more since they're in relatively good condition."

"Well," Burns attempted to recover face, "We heard you boys found yourselves a nice gooey mummy."

"Congratulations," Henderson chuckled.

"You know," Daniels gestured to them with his own canopic jar, "If you dry that fellow out you might be able to see him for firewood." Rick faked a chuckle as the others had a laugh at the O'Connells' expense.

"Amazing." Lillian shook her head, "Three groan men and a twelve year old boy," she nodded her head to where Haytham slept not far from the fire, "Has better manners than all of you combined."

"Look what I found!" Evelyn called out, coming up to the group.

"You're in her seat," Rick sternly told Beni, who just chuckled.

"Now," Lillian used the tone usually reserved for when Haytham was being unruly. Beni obediately got up and moved for Evelyn.

"They're scarab skeletons," Evelyn held out her hand, revealing the dried shells of the bugs. "Flesh-eaters," she sat beside Rick while Beni attempted to sit next to Lillian. She glared at him until he moved to sit beside the Americans. "I found them inside our friend's coffin," Rick and Jonathan both peered at the tiny bugs, each touching a skeleton. "They can stay alive for _years_ feasting on the flesh of a corpse," Evelyn informed them, making Lillian grimace at the idea. "Unfortunately for our friend," Evelyn looked at Rick, "He was still alive when they started eating him."

The Americans were silent, their faces varying between disgust and a touch of horror.

"So somebody threw these in with our guy, and then they slowly ate him alive?" Rick held one skeleton in his hand, gesturing with it.

"Very slowly," Evelyn said almost gleefully.

"You know," Lillian added conversationally, "Evie, it still kinda freaks me out how excited you get over this stuff."

"Well, he certainly wasn't a popular fellow when they planted him, was he?" Jonathan said, shifting to get a more comfortable position on the makeshift bench he was sitting on.

"No," Rick smirked, "Probably got a little too frisky with the Pharaoh's daughter."

"Or sister," Lillian teased him as Evelyn giggled.

"Well," Evelyn shared with them, "According to my readings, our friend suffered the Hom Dai, the worst of all Ancient Egyptian curses. One reserved only for the most evil of blasphemers. Well," she tried to impress upon them the significance, "In all of my research I've never heard of this curse having _actually_ been performed."

"That bad, huh?" Rick's eyebrows rose.

"Buried alive with scarabs," Lillian scoffed, "Who comes up with this stuff?"

"Yes, well" Evelyn continued, not noticing how the entire group was hanging on her every word, intrigued and a bit frightened. "They never used it because they feared it so. It's written that, if a victim of the Hom Dai should ever arise, he would bring with him the ten plagues of Egypt." She cast a glance at everyone around the circle, who were hushed into silence, as if they were waiting for the rest of the story in a campfire tale.

Lillian was woken by a shout, "NO!" she jerked up, pistol in one hand and knife in another, "You must not read from the book!" The Egyptologist screamed, Lillian turned her head to see Rick and Evelyn both crouched before the black book the Egyptologist had been trying to open all night, it was open, and, evidently, Evie had read from it.

Everyone in camp woke, one by one, as the air was filled with a strange croaking noise. Lillian grabbed Haytham, who woke with a start and pulled him near her and Rick while Evelyn and Jonathan also sought the protection provided in numbers. A black cloud suddenly rushed over and through the walls of Hamunaptra, a swarm of insects, chirping and buzzing and humming. The first plague.

"Run!" Lillian shouted, pushing her group towards the entrance to the underground. The American expedition, she saw from the corner of her eye, took another entrance, while some diggers were covered in the swarm.

Lillian doubted she'd see them again . The Egyptologist stood stock still, locusts crawling over him.

"What have we done?" he murmured.

They entered into the passageways, finally slowing down when they realized no locusts had followed them.

"Lily, Mr. Rick," Haytham's voice was softer than either O'Connell had ever heard it, and filled with uncertainty and fear, "What's happening?"

Rick said nothing, just cocked his rifle and gripped his torch more tightly.

"I don't know," Lillian told him, resting a hand on the boy's shoulder, not surprised when the boy moved into her, leaning against her side.

The group turned down a corner, Rick in the lead with the others not far behind, still panting somewhat from the run, when suddenly the floor before them began to rise.

Or, rather, a section did. A hexagonal shape began to shift up from the floor, sand spilling from it until, suddenly, scarabs began to poor from the top.

"Scarabs!" Evelyn shouted, as they all turned to run, not needing a refresher course from Evie about the flesh-eaters.

"Go go go!" Rick shouted, hanging back to throw his torch to the ground, hoping the flames would hold the bugs back. When that didn't work, he shot two shots of his elephant gun at the bugs, causing a few to fly up into the air like water breaking on a shore.

They came to a wide open room, filled with ramps and crevices. Running up one, Lillian looked around and helped Haytham jump onto a platform where the scarabs wouldn't reach. Evelyn threw herself into a crevice, while Rick joined his sister and Haytham on their platform and Jonathan jumped on one of his own.

They watched the last of the bugs scurry past and then realized something- Evelyn was missing.

"Evelyn?" Rick called.

"Evie?" her brother yelled, panicked.

"Evelyn?"

"Evie!"

There was no response.

They jumped across to where they had last seen Evelyn, Rick began pounding on the walls.

"Damn it," he cried, "Trap door!"

"Well, look for a switch or something!" Lillian told him.

"I am!"

"Run you sons of bitches!" the voice of Henderson came echoing down to them, proceeding the man himself, who ran quickly with Daniels and a digger not far behind him, "Run!"

"Go." Rick instructed him and Jonathan. "Go go!"

Lillian went to follow, but saw the scarabs running past again, and pressed herself deeper into the crevice, clutching Haytham to her, turning him away when the digger fell and was feasted on.

The wall behind her gave out and, with a shout, she and Haytham fell through.

Lillian came to a sudden stop when her head banged into a wall and Haytham banged into her. She gave a groan.

"Are you alright?" she whispered to Haytham, who nodded, before looking beyond her as his eyes grew wide and shaking his head.

Lillian turned slowly, dreading what she might see, and couldn't help but gasp as she saw Evelyn, cowering against a wall while a mummy- _the_ mummy, stood before her, speaking in a gravely voice in a language (Ancient Egyptian if she had to guess) that Lillian couldn't understand. She heard a moan to her left and spun to see Mr. Burns, groveling in the ground, his eyes both missing- the empty sockets mutilated horribly, and his voice gurgling as if- no.

"Kadeesh pharos, Anck-su-namun!" the mummy cried, and Lillian reached for her pistol, throwing herself between Evelyn and the mummy, weapon cocked.

"Now I don't speak Egyptian," she said, eyes narrowed, "But I reckon this is a pretty universal message." With that, she opened fire. The mummy took a step forward, unphased.

"What the hell?" Lillian breathed out, pushing Haytham and Evelyn further behind her as the mummy advanced.

"There you are!" Rick's voice came and both Evelyn and Haytham turned to see the man running up to them, weapon in hand. Lillian kept her eyes frozen on the mummy. "Will you quit playin' hide and seek? Come on, let's get out of hear!" at that moment he turned to see what his sister was staring down. "Whoa!" he shouted, taking an involuntary step back. The mummy hissed at them.

"Evie!" Jonathan called, and the mummy turned to grunt at the Englishman and the two Americans who followed him. Jonathan gave a shout and stopped dead in his tracks, dropping the torch. That done, the mummy turned back to the O'Connells and let loose a roar.

Both flinched back, but Rick then stepped forward and screamed back, before shoting the mummy in the rib cage. Bone shards flew and the mummy was knocked away, as Rick shoved both women and the boy out the exit to their right. "Move!" he shouted.

They finally reached the surface, dashing around the corner, only to stop dead at the line of rifles pointed at them by the black-robed men, the Egyptologist kneeling before them, book clutched in his hands.

The leader, standing tall in the middle of his men, reached up to pull the scarf that covered his nose and mouth away, revealing tattoos of Arabic script under his eyes on his cheekbones, and a beard trimmed neatly on a young face- the man couldn't have been older than Rick.

"I told you to leave or die," he said, stepping forward, "You refused." He fixed them all with a solemn glare, "Now you may have killed us all." His pronouncement was doom, but his voice was even as his eyes observed each individual. "You have unleashed the creature we have feared for more than three thousand years."

"Relax," Rick said, brash as ever, "I got it." Both Rick and Lillian had their hands still on their weapons, while the others all had theirs raised in surrender.

"Rick-," Lillian began, trailing off. She had emptied half her pistol into that thing, and it barely flinched. She doubted one shot from an elephant gun would do the trick.

"No mortal weapon can kill this creature," the stranger said with anger and derision in his voice, glaring at Rick, "He's not of this world." Lillian gasped at the familiar words, bringing Haytham closer to her, pistol still gripped tight in one hand. Two robed men brought Burns before them, but he was weak and moaning. His compatriots took him into their arms.

Daniels glared at the stranger with hatred, "You bastards," he hissed.

"What did you do to him?" Henderson accused.

"I don't think-," Lillian began.

"We saved him," the stranger cut her off, "Saved him before the creature could finish it's work." Lilian was getting tired of being interrupted, and decided if the man tried it a third time, there'd be hell to pay. "Now leave all of you, before he finishes you all," he sent a particular glare towards Lillian, "You should not have come here, and should never have brought a child," he turned back to his men, "Yallah. Nimshi." The men raised their weapons and began to move. "We must now go on the hunt," he said, stalking towards the group, "Try to find a way to kill him."

"I already told you," Rick growled, "I got him."

"Know this," the stranger turned back to meet her brother's eyes, "This creature is a bringer of death. He will never eat. He will never sleep. And he will never stop."

"Rick," Lillian sighed as the man continued to walk away, "I fired half my pistol at him and- nothing. Barely a flinch. I think maybe we should believe the creepy man."

They all mounted their camels and left the city behind.

"We've got a problem," Lillian murmured to her brother as they rode through the night, her voice pitched low so no one else would hear.

"What's that, Lil?"

"Remember why we took this job?" she asked him, "You can't go back to Cairo!"

He was quiet.

"Crap."

* * *

_To be totally honest, I'd forgotten I'd changed the beginning motivation for Rick &amp; Lillian tagging along. It was mostly because I didn't want to write the warden because he was just one more character to juggle when I already had the three mains, two OCs, and then the Americans, the Egyptologist, and Imhotep and Ardeth._  
_Didn't wanna deal with it._

_So, I'll be taking advantage of Cairo's relatively lawlessness and lack of wanted posters for Rick in the next chapter._

_Review?_


	17. Grown Ass Woman

"_I cannot believe you!" Rick shouted, pacing back and forth across the floor._

_Lillian rolled her eyes, crossed her arms over her chest and spoke, "What? What is your issue here? That I went on a date? That I had a good time?"_

"_You know exactly what my issue is! You let him- you- you know!"_

"_What? I kissed him?"_

_Rick just turned and growled at her, continuing his pacing._

"_Or was it that I did more than kiss him?"_

_Her brother tensed even further and continued his pacing._

_Lillian was sick and tired of it, so she planted herself right in his path, forcing him to stop and look at her._

"_I am a grown ass woman, I can do what I like. I can date whom I like, and if I decide I want to kiss or something more with someone, you cannot damn stop me and you have no right to start bellowing like a bull!"_

"_I'm your brother!" he protested._

"_And that gives you the right to care, the right to worry, the right to be interested, but NOT," she began screaming, "The right to order me around or make my decisions for me. ARE WE CLEAR?"_

_Rick's teethed were grinding and Lillian decided to take her second attack._

"_And while we're on the subject- could you be more of a hypocrite? It's alright for you to go out and have fun with any girl you like but I'm not allowed to do the same with any guy I like?"_

_Rick remained silent._

"_I thought so. Now, shut up, and go to bed. And if you're still gnashing your teeth over this in the morning, I might just skin you alive."_

* * *

"Okay," Rick planned, "It's been over a week- we can get Evelyn back safely, get our fee, no one the wiser, and start heading west for Morocco. How's Morocco sound?" he asked Haytham, who gave a nod. "Morocco it is."

"You're leaving?" Evelyn asked, eyes widened, "What do you mean Morocco?"

"Listen, we'll get you back to Cairo and then we've got to high tail it out of there. Morocco sounds fun- I don't think we've been there before.

"We have to help," Evelyn corrected, "We can't just leave with the plagues of Egypt coming down on us!"

"I thought you said you didn't believe in all that fairytale and hokum stuff," Rick shot back.

"Well," Evelyn replied, "Having an encounter with a three thousand year old, walking, talking corpse does tend to convert one."

"She's got a point," Lillian nodded at Evelyn.

"Forget it," Rick told her, "We're out of here. Gone."

"Oh no we are not," Evelyn told him, and Lillian rolled her eyes.

"Oh yes we are," Rick back-talked.

"Oh no we are not- we woke him up, and we are going to stop him."

"Just," Lillian raised her hand, "How exactly do we plan on doing that? Shouldn't that be left to the men in black who are evidently curse experts?"

"The lovely Ms O'Connell does rather have a point, Evie," Jonathan said, watching his sister and Rick fume and fight.

"We?" Rick reiterated, all others ignored in his and Evelyn's argument. "What "we?" "We" didn't read that book. I told you not to play around with that thing- didn't I tell you not to play around with that thing?"

"He's got a point," Lillian nodded at her brother.

"Yes, alright then," Evelyn rolled her eyes, "Me me me, I I I, I woke him up and I intend to stop him."

"Oh yeah," Rick looked at her incredulously, "How?"

"He's got a point," Lillian repeated.

"You heard the man," Rick continued, "No mortal weapons can kill this guy!"

"Ugh," Evelyn sighed, "Well, then we are just going to have to find some _im_mortal ones."

"She says that like it's easy," Lillian muttered to Jonathan, who sighed.

"There goes that "we" again," Rick wondered.

"Will you listen to me?" Evelyn steered her camel in front of Ricks, forcing everyone to a stop. "We have to do something! Once this creature has been reborn, his curse is going to spread until the whole of the earth is destroyed!"

"Yeah?" Rick's eyebrows rose, "And is that my problem?"

"Well, it is everybody's problem," Evelny nodded sharply.

"And point for Evie," Lillian muttered.

"Evelyn, I appreciate you hiring me on and all, but you paid me to take you to Hamunaptra and back, without having to reenter Cairo. I'm doin' that. That's as far as my contract goes!"

"Is that all I am to you?" Evelyn asked, hurt, "A contract?"

"Okay," Lillian inserted her own camel between the two before it could get any messier. "So, to sum up, we have Rick in favor of high-tailing it out of here and going to Morocco until that gets the plagues, Evie in favor of staying and fighting, but without an actual plan of how to do so, Jonathan and I in favor of leaving it to the experts- right Jonathan?" the man nodded, "And while Evie's argument certainly has the moral high ground, I have to point out what's wrong with letting black-robes do their job?"

"There is a certain responsibility-." Evelyn began before Lillian cut her off.

"Yes, yes, got that bit- but do you actually have any sort of _plan_ on how to defeat the creature? How to get an immortal weapon? Where to start?"

"Well," Evelyn said, "Of _course_ I know where to start- we must do research."

"I do not want to stay around here and play with Mister Maggot!" Rick shouted, "We need to get Haytham and get out of here!"

"He has a point, Evie," Jonathan reminded his sister, "For these two it's not just them- they've got to take care of the lad, too."

"I want to help," Haytham piped up.

"What?" both Rick and Lillian turned to look at the boy.

"I want to help," he repeated, "If it's going to destroy whole world than nowhere safe. Might as well help," Haytham shrugged.

"Haytham," Lillian shook her head, "This isn't some adventure story- you could very well end up dead. It isn't safe for you." She turned to look at Evelyn, "I'm sorry, Evie, but Rick and I have to get Haytham out of here."

Evelyn solemnly nodded, "Yes, well, I can understand that. You needn't lead us the rest of the way to Cairo- we can make it from here. You three…head for Morocco."

"Thank you," Lillian nodded, and she was silent and Evelyn's eyes moved to Rick, who refused to look at anyone as he kicked his camel to the northwest, Lillian and Haytham following after him.

* * *

_Review?_


	18. Monsters

"_Tell me a story," Lillian sighed as she leaned against the wall next to her brother, trying not to notice all their cuts and bruises._

"_Aren't fifteen year olds a little old for stories?" Rick asked, huffing._

"_Shut up and tell me one."_

"_What story you want?"_

"_Tell me about Sinbad."_

"_Alright, well, Sinbad's third adventure was pretty scary- he and his crew were shipwrecked on an island, and on that island was a creature. It was huge, giant, with eyes like coals and teeth like elephant tusks, and nails like claws. He came down upon the crew and started gobbling them up, one by one, beginning with the captain. The monster would pluck up a crewmember, like picking a flower, and stick them on a poker to heat over a fire. _

"_Now, Sinbad hatched a plan, and one night, while the giant was sleeping, he and what was left of the crew took those pokers out of the fire- they were red hot- and stuck them into the giant's eyes, blinding him._

"_While the creatures trashed around in pain, unable to see anything, the crew ran fast to a raft they'd made the night before as part of the plan, hopping on. The giant could hear the men shouting to each other and began to throw rocks out to the sea, in an attempt to hit the boat._

"_Sinbad, though, he figured out what was going on and made the entire crew go silent, so the giant couldn't tell where they were, and they all managed to escape."_

"_Egh, monsters," Lillian grinned, "So much easier to deal with then men."_

_Rick chuckled._

* * *

They had set up camp for the night, Rick and Lillian checking all their weapons, trying to keep their hands steady.

"I'm gonna go check on the urchin," Rick told his sister, standing and walking over to the small tent they had pitched, the camels beside it for some extra body heat in the cold desert nights. Rick lifted the flap and peered in. He straightened, counted two camels, and then looked in the tent again.

"Damn it!" he shouted, causing Lilian to jump up, Rick's elephant gun cocked in her hands, "We never should've told that kid any damn hero stories."

Lillian's eyes widened as Rick stomped over to their fire and began gathering their things, "He's gone?"

"Vamoosed," her brother confirmed.

The two siblings were packed and on their camels in seconds, heading for Cairo.

"I'm going to kill that boy," Rick muttered, shaking his head as they tried to spur their camels into greater speed.

"Not if I do it first," his sister growled.

Haytham had found Jonathan in a bar with Henderson, drinking heavily after the events of the past day.

"Mr. Carnahan!" he shouted, running up to the man.

"Haytham," Jonthan's eye brows shot up, "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be half-way out of Egypt by now?"

"I can to help," the boy said, "What're you doing?"

"Well," Jonathan trailed off.

"We're helping," Henderson told the boy, handing him a shot.

"Cheers," Jonathan said, raising his glass. All three took the shot before spitting it out.

"Sweet Jesus!" Henderson cried out, wiping his mouth. "Tasted just like-," Henderson trailed off as the three looked at the fountain in the middle of the room, watching the red flow from the top of it, trickling.

At that moment Rick and Lillian flew into the room, shouting.

"Haytham!" Lillian spotted him first and ran over to the boy, grabbing him by the shoulders, "What the hell do you think you're doing?" she cried, as Rick joined her. However, Rick's head slowly turned back to the fountain he'd just dashed past, looking.

"Blood," Rick said, eyes wide.

"And the rivers and waters of Egypt ran red," Jonathan quotes, "And were as blood."

"He's here," Rick said, looking around, "Where's Evelyn?"

They all ran out to the courtyard, spotting Evelyn walking, nose buried in a book.

"Oh, Evelyn," Rick sing-songed as he quickly walked up behind her.

The Englishwoman turned around, her eyes going wide, "Mister O'Connell? You're here? What about-?"

"We've got problems," Rick cut her off. At that moment, the sky began to darken, and then, fire fell from the sky.

"Ok," yelled as they dashed towards the stairwell, looking for cover, "That's locusts, water into blood, and hail and fire. Am I the only one who noticed that the bible apparently got these things out of order? I thought blood was first and hailstorm of fire was seventh or eight. Yeah, first was blood, then came frogs, lice," she began listing the plagues.

"Not the time!" Rick shouted at her.

They came to a stop, watching the destruction, when they heard a gasp behind them. Rick and Lillian turned, to see Beni on the steps, rushing back up.

"Hey! Beni! You little stink weed!" Rick shouted, grabbing the man by the front of his shirt, "Where you been?" Before Beni could answer, there came a roar from upstairs. Rick let go of Beni to grab his pistol and take Evelyn's hand, leading her up to the source. Beni began to flee down the stairs, but Lillian stuck her foot out as he passed and tripped him.

He landed flat on his face and Lillian couldn't help a small smirk before she raced up after her brother, Haytham's hand clutched tight in hers.

"We're going to have a discussion on wandering off when all this is over," she told the boy as they ran.

He just gave her a nervous smile.

They entered into Mr. Burns' room to find Rick shooting rapidly at the mummy, before getting tossed at them, as if he weighed nothing, knocking them to the floor, including Jonathan and two of the Americans who had come up behind them.

They struggled to sit up, Lillian aiming her pistol at the mummy while Rick grabbed Haytham and pulled him close. However, the monster was no longer paying attention to them, instead, advancing on Evelyn, who backed up into a bookcase, cringing.

The mummy spoke to her, something in Ancient Egyptian, and leaned in as if to kiss the woman, when the piano let out a discordant sound.

They all turned to see a white cat having leapt onto the keys, and the mummy gasped and twirled away, turning into a whirling sandstorm before dissipating out the doors to the balcony.

"Cats," Lillian muttered, "Bullets mean nothing to it, but cats- cats frighten it away."

"Egypt," Jonathan told her with a shrug.

"We are in _very_ serious trouble," Rick said, eyes still on the doors that the creature had exited from. He then turned to look at Haytham, "And you- you are in trouble _twice_ over."

"I've got a plan," Evelyn said, trying to calm her breathing.

Lillian just groaned.

Evelyn led them all to the Cairo Museum of Antiquities, Jonathan providing transportation in his car. It was a mite cramped with the Carnahans, O'Connells, Daniels, Henderson, and Haytham.

"He does seem to like Evie," Jonathan said as they stalked through the halls, looking for the curator of the museum.

"Yeah," Rick agreed, "What's that about?"

"What's this guy want, anyhow?" Henderson asked.

"There's only one person I know," Evelyn told them, leading the way, "That can possibly give us any answers." She turned the corner to see Dr. Bay speaking to the stranger from the desert, "You!" she shouts, causing Rick, Hendrson, and Jonathan all to reach for their weapons.

Lillian, for once, did not, but rolled her eyes, "Boys- _really_?"

"Miss Carnahan," the curator nodded at his new guests, "Gentlemen, miss."

"What is he doing here?" Evelyn asked, staring at the stranger.

"Do you truly wish to know?" the curator asked them, voice acerbic. "Or would you rather just shoot us?"

"Rick," Lillian scolded her brother, staring him down until he holstered his gun. The others followed suit.

"Well, Lil seems to think we should go on a little faith here," Rick said, putting a hand on Haytham's shoulder, still tense.

"Considering what we just saw, I think that's a good call," Lillian told her brother. "Now," she turned to the doctor, "Dr. Bay, correct?" the curator nodded, "What the hell is going on?"

"I think we should all sit down," the Doctor said, leading them into another room, filled with artifacts and displays, but also chairs. "This," he gestures to the younger man, "Is my nephew, Ardeth Bay. We," he began, pacing the room as the others stood or sat still around him, "Are part of an ancient secret society. For over three thousand years we have guarded the city of the dead. Sworn at manhood to do any and all in our power to stop the High Priest Imhotep from being reborn into this world," Dr. Bay seated himself, looking disgusted with the turn things had taken, his nephew standing beside his chair, looking somber.

"And now," he added, looking directly at Evelyn, "Because of you, we have failed."

"And you think that this justifies the killing of innocent people?" Evelyn asked, referring to the times the Medjai had attacked explorers at Hamunaptra.

"To stop this creature?" The curator asked rhetorically, turning his head as if in thought, "Let me think-."

"YES!" both Uncle and nephew shout at her.

"Considering the hail fire and blood and locusts," Lilian jumped in, "I can't exactly blame them, Evie."

"Question," Rick inserted when it was clear Evelyn had temporarily been made speechless, "Why doesn't he like cats?"

"Well, cats are the guardians of the Underworld," the curator informed them, "He will fear them until he is fully regenerated."

"And then he will fear nothing," Ardeth continued.

"Yeah, and you know how he gets hisself fully regenerated?" Daniels shouted, panicking.

"By killing everyone who opened that chest," Henderson finished, his hand practically glued to his gun for what little protection it offered.

"And suckin' 'em dry, that's how!" Daniels continued, seeming hysterical.

"So, can cats do any actual damage to this guy? Because, if so, Cairo has plenty of alley cats wandering about," Lillian asked while Evelyn scolded her brother to stop playing with the exhibits.

"They can weaken him, frighten him away, but do no real damage to the creature," Ardeth told her.

"When I saw him alive at Hamunaptra, he called me "Anck-su-namun," and just now," Evelyn told them, "In Mr. Burns' quarters, h-he tried to kiss me," she blushed slightly at the end of that statement. Both Bay men exchanged a significant glance.

"it was because of his love for Anck-su-namun that he was cursed, apparently," Dr. Bay told them all, "Even after three thousand years-"

"He's still in love with her," Ardeth nodded.

"Yes, well that's very _romantic_," Evelyn tried to get them on track, "But what has that got to do with me?"

"Perhaps he will once again try to raise her from the dead," Ardeth told his uncle, leaning in and ignoring the rest of the room.

"Am I the only one still stuck on the whole curse-for-love thing?" Lillian asked, looking around, "Are we in some sort of Ancient Egyptian Romeo and Juliet thing?"

"Yes," Dr. Bay spoke with his nephew, the two still ignoring the others, "It appears he's already chosen his human sacrifice." As one, the Bays turn to look at Evelyn.

The room goes quiet.

"Bad luck, old mum," Jonathan grimaces at his sister from where he stood on a display's chariot.

"On the contrary," Dr. Bay corrected the elder Carnahan, "It may just give us the time we need to kill the creature," Lillian thought she could practically see the plans being concocted in the man's head.

Ardeth stepped forward, his eyes fixed upward on the skylight where the sun was visible. "We will need all the help we can get," he announced, "His powers are growing." Every also looked up to see the sun being blotted out by an eclipse.

"And he stretched out his hand towards the heavens, and there was darkness throughout the land of Egypt," Jonathan quoted.

"Am I the only one really bothered that these plagues are out of order?" Lillian hissed. "Frogs, lice, flies, diseased livestock, boils," she listed what was left, "Death of the first born." Rick pulled Haytham tight against him. They didn't know if Haytham was his biological mother's firstborn- they didn't know anything about Haytham's biological parents.

Lillian found herself selfishly praying that Haytham was the youngest of six.

Ardeth, too, looked at the child in their midst, "Is he your firstborn?" he asked Lillian. She'd gotten the question before- some people assumed Haytham was her child with an Egyptian father, but she shook her head.

"He's adoptive- we don't know anything about his parents. Found him wandering the streets, tried to steal my wallet." Lillian couldn't move her eyes away from the boy, hoping they wouldn't reach the point where the fail plague would come upon the world and they'd have to find out.

Rick's hand tightened on Haytham, and his shoulders squared. Lilian took a deep breath and the two siblings meet each other's eyes. It was decided. They'd fight this. They'd fight this so Haytham would be safe. Whatever it took.

"Haytham, you're going to stick with Lil," Rick said, pushing the boy lightly towards the woman, "I need you to help her- do _whatever she says_, okay? No running off on your own, no lip, no arguments. Got it?"

Haytham nodded.

"C'mon," Rick said, leading the others out, "Let's see what we can get done about this."

Lillian turned to Ardeth Bay and the Dr. "What can we do?" she asked them, her hands settling on Haytham, "Because we can't leave at this point, and I'm not just standing around here waiting for us to all grow boils and sores- so tell me what we can do to help."

"Can you read Arabic?" the curator asked her.

She nodded, "And speak it- I grew up in Cairo."

"Then help us find a solution," he said, leading her into a library that looked like a disaster zone.

"Did a bomb go off in here?" Lillian asked, looking around.

"No, just Miss Carnahan," the curator sighed, and Lillian looked at him, wide-eyed, before setting to work.

"Alrighty then," she sighed, "Haytham, you start helping me and so help me god if you leave this room I will make the next ten years of your life _very_ unpleasant. The plagues will be a dream compared to what I'll do."

The four got down to business, scanning books for any information. Lillian and Haytham took anything in English or Arabic while the Doctor handled everything in Ancient Egyptian. Ardeth took whatever was in front of him.

"I have a story of…Setna who apparently _went_ to the underworld, and came back, which gives us…nothing," Lillian tossed the book to the side.

"I've got a story about a man who helped plot to kill a Pharoah, but he ran away and had adventures and was never caught," Haytham added that useless book to the pile.

"Ok," Lillian said, still paging through books, "I gotta ask- what's the whole curse-for-love thing?"

"Imhotep loved Anck-su-namun, Pharoah's mistress. Seti I had decreed that no other man could touch her, but Imhotep and Anck-su-namun risked everything for their love. Seti discovered their affair," Ardeth told them, smiling slightly when he saw how Haytham fell into a hush at a story, "And together they slayed him."

"Oh," Lillian sighed, "And since the Pharaoh is a god..."

"Quite," Dr. Bay responded, "And then, Imhotep abused his power as High Priest, trying to raise the dead, to bring Anck-su-namun, murderess of Pharoah Seti I, back to life so he may be with her, upsetting the balance of life and death. However, the Medjai, Pharaoh's bodyguards, discovered him, and stopped the Priest before he could complete the spell."

"And for his blasphemy, not only to kill the Pharaoh, but to attempt to raise one who killed him from the grave," Lillian concluded, "He was given the Hom Dai."

"Yes," Ardeth said, "And his priests, for helping and following the blasphemer, were mummified alive. But our ancestors did not see how the Hom Dai would be a curse, not only on Imhotep, but on themselves as well. For generations, our people have stood watch over Hamunaptra, sworn to its cause, and the world's protection. Imhotep deserved the Hom Dai, no doubt, but the Medjai did not."

"All because of love," Lillian shook her head, "That proves it- love makes you crazy."

They all stopped suddenly, hearing a noise.

"Is that-," Lillian looked around at the men, "Croaking?"

The two Bay men exchanged a look.

"Is there a-a pond or something nearby?" she asked Dr. Bay.

"There's a reflection pool, two doors down," he gestured with his head.

"Haytham, stay here," Lillian said, cocking her gun, "I think I know what this is."

Lillian and Ardeth excited the library, following the noise two doors down. They exchanged a look before Ardeth opened the door swiftly and Lillian pointed her rifle into the small courtyard, eyes widening as she saw all the frogs, covering the ground, croaking and jumping.

Ardeth quickly slammed the door shut.

"So that's locusts, water to blood, hail and fire, darkness, and now frogs. Great," Lillian said as they went to rejoin the other two in the library, "We're five plagues down, five to go."

"Lil!" they heard her brother shouting down the hall.

"Dr. Bay!" Evelyn's voice joined in.

The all ran and meet up with the group in the front entrance.

"We got frogs," Lillian told her brother with faux cheerfulness.

"Oh, nice," he responded in the same manner, "We got flies."

"Oh, so that makes six."

"Yup."

"That's-," Haytham looked between the two, "Four left?"

"No, sir," Evelyn told him, "We're not letting it get that far," she patted the boy lightly on the head before storming up the steps, everyone else trailing behind her.

"Where's Henderson?" Lillian asked, looking around, "And weren't you supposed to get-," she stopped when she saw her brother's face, "Oh."

"Yes, well," Evelyn briskly said, as Ardeth and Dr. Bay took the lead upstairs, "according to legend, the black book the Americans found at Hamunaptra…is supposed to bring people back from the dead." She sighed, "Until now it was a notion I was unwilling to believe-."

"I can get behind that," Lillian said just as Rick groused, "Believe it sister, that's what brought our buddy back to life."

"Yes," Evelyn wrung her hands, "And I'm thinking, that if the black book came bring dead people to life, then-."

"Maybe the gold book could kill him," Rick nodded in understanding.

"That's the myth," Evelyn agreed, "Now we just have to find out where the gold book is hidden."

"Let's hope so cuz that's pretty much our only plan," Lillian told them all, "Aside from just giving up and dying."

As they turned the corner they heard what sounded like chanting, and looked behind them. The group moved to the window, looking out to see a mob of people chanting "Imhotep," with torches raised as they marched, like zombies, to the museum's doors. Lillian flinched when she realized the mob was covered in boils and sores.

"Last but not least, my favorite plague," Jonathan said dryly, "Boils and sores."

"They have become his slaves," Ardeth observed, "So it has begun. The beginning of the end."

"Not quite yet it hasn't," Evelyn shook her head determinedly, flashing a look to Haytham where he stood beside Rick. "C'mon," she ordered the others, running down the hall to the inscription.

"So, we've still got what? Lice, diseased livestock, and death of the first born left," Lillian shifted her shoulders, "This is far from over."

They gather in front of a large stone tablet, everyone stepping aside so Evelyn could translate. They could hear the mob pounding on the museum's doors, still chanting Imhotep's name.

"According to Bembridge scholars, the golden Book of Amun-Ra is located inside the statue of Anubis," Evelyn lectured, scanning the stone for the information they needed.

"That's where we found the black book," Daniels told everyone.

"Makes sense," Lillian said, "Book of the Dead buried under the god of mummification."

"Exactly," Evelyn nodded emphatically.

"Looks like the old boys at Bembridge were mistaken," Jonathan said, peering over his sister's shoulder.

"Yes, they mixed the books up," Evelyn nodded, "Mixed up where they were buried. So, if the _black_ book is inside the statue of Anubis, then the golden book must be inside…," her eyes flew over the stone, finger pointed to help focus her reading.

The doors burst open as the mob raced into the building. Everyone but the Carnahans and the curator peered over the railing to see the mob running below.

"Come on, Evie, faster," Jonathan said, panic in his voice.

"Patience is a virtue," Evie sing-songed to her brother.

"Not right now it isn't," Rick sing-songed back, turning away from the sight of the mob.

"Uh, I think I'll go- start the car," Jonathan dashed down the hall.

"Haytham, go with him," Lillian encouraged, shoving the boy slightly in the direction she wanted him to go and grabbing her second pistol.

"But-," he tried to protest.

"No arguing!" both O'Connells shouted at him. Haytham followed Jonathan.

"I've got it!" Evelyn shouted, her eyes thrilled, "The golden Book of Amun-Ra is at Hamunaptra inside the statue of Horus! Take that Bembridge scholars!" she cheered, pumping her fist in the air.

"Yeah, that's great, and kinda obvious," Lillian said, pushing everyone out, "So let's _go_."

"Back to Hamunaptra!" Rick shouted as they ran.

"You know, for a place we swore never to go back to, we spend an awful lot of time there," Lillian told him as they all climbed into the car where Jonathan and Haytham were waiting.

"Imhotep!" they turned to see Beni, standing on the steps, calling for the mummy as they tried to flee, "Imhotep!" Their gazes moved up to the window, where Imhotep could be see, roaring in frustration.

Jonathan's car peeled out as Rick stood and shouted, "You're gonna get yours, Beni! You hear me?! You're gonna get yours!"

"Oh!" Beni shouted back at them as they drove away from the chasing mob, "Like I've never heard that before!"

They were racing down the empty street, finally seeming ot have lost their pursuers, when Jonathan came to a sudden stop. They all looked front, to see several lines of Imhotep's new slaves, standing there, stock still, staring at them.

"Hey Rick," Lillian whispered, "You and me. Side-by-side."

Rick looked back at his sister, smirking, "Of damn course."

"But if I die, I'm coming for you."

"Of damn course," Rick looked at Jonathan, and then back at the people before taking his own foot and slamming it down, on top of Jonathan's, on the gas.

"Ahh!" Jonathan shouted, as the car sped up and the people raced towards them.

"Hang on!" Rick shouted.

"I'm not sure if I'm allowed to shot these guys or not!" Lillian yelled, "I mean, they're trying to kill us, but it's not their fault!"

"Shoot them!" both Rick and Daniels decided for her.

She shrugged and pulled out her pistols, "I'll aim to maime, not kill, then," she said breezily, standing up in the car, bullets flying, as people leapt onto the car.

"Hey! O'Connell! O'Connell!" Daniels shouted as two or three people tried to pull him out of the car, Lillian took aim but couldn't get a clear shot with all the movement, and Daniels went over the side.

"Stop!" she shouted, "We have to get him!"

"It's too late," Ardeth told her.

"But he's the last one- after him, Imhotep's fully regenerated!" she argued.

Ardeth just shook his head and repeated, "It's too late."

They crashed into some stone water trough, everyone jumping out of the car. Rick picked up a fallen torch, waving it to keep the mob back while the others looked for some place to run, only to find they were cornered.

"Imhotep. Imhotep," the mob chanted, surrounding them and walking forward a few steps, before stopping and parting like the Red Sea, for Imhotep, fully regenerated, to walk up.

"It's the creature," Dr. Bay told his nephew, "He's fully regenerated."

The monster began to speak, and Beni translated.

"Come with me, my Princess. It is time to make you mine- forever."

"For all eternity, idiot," Evelyn sneered, still full of gumption.

The creature spoke again, and Beni went back to translating, "Take my hand, and I will spare your friends." Evelyn looked carefully at the hand the resurrected Imhotep held out for her, looking around for some inspiration.

"Oh, dear," she sighed, before asking Rick, "Have you got any bright ideas?"

"I'm thinkin' I'm thinkin'," Rick muttered, holding onto his torch like a baseball bat. Lillian moved Haytham behind her, her pistol still in her one hand.

"There's too many of them," she whispered, looking around.

"You better think of something fast," Evelyn looked into Rick's face, "Because, if he turns me into a mummy- you're the first one I'm coming after." The two stared at each other for a heartbeat, before Evelyn walked forward, taking the hand of the Priest.

"No," Rick said, whipping out his gun and aiming.

"Don't!" Evelyn cried, turning back to look at him, as Ardeth grabbed onto the American's gun arm, trying to restrain him, Imhotep clutching Evelyn to his side. "He still has to take me to Hamunaptra to perform the ritual."

"She is right," Ardeth said, trying to pull Rick's arm down, "Live today, fight tomorrow," he tells Lillian's brother. Rick remains still until Lillian also takes a firm grip of his arm. Rick holstered his weapon, glaring down Imhotep.

"I'll be seeing you again," he threatened, pointing at Imhotep with the burning torch. The creature smirked, and turned, leading Evelyn away.

"Evelyn," Rick cried out, leaping forward only to be restrained by Ardeth and Lillian.

"Hey, that's mine," Jonathan protested as Beni pulled the key out of his coat.

"Thank you," Beni told him, walking away.

Imhotep shouted once, and Evelyn cried out, "No! Let go of me!" as the mob advanced once more on the group. "Let go of me!" they heard Evelyn's shouts fade away.

"Goodbye," Beni nodded at the O'Connells, "My friends."

"Beni, come here you little worm!" Rick shouted as both he and Lillian lunged for the rat as he ran into the mob.

They all looked around as the mob kept advanceing, when Lillian looked down at her feet, noticing a swear grate.

"Rick," she called, "Remember that time you stole a necklace for me?"

Her brother immediately knew what she was talking about and tossed his torch into the crowd before helping her lift up the heavy grate.

"C'mon," he said, tossing down Haytham first, then Jonathan. Lillian fired her pistols into the crowd, aiming for legs to take down the threat without killing anyone.

"What about my sister?" Jonathan asked as he wrapped an arm around Rick, preparing to jump.

"We're gonna get her back," Rick swore, tossing the Englishman down and then grabbing Ardeth by the collar, "You next," he threw the Medjai down. "Lil!" he shouted as Dr. Bay unsheathed a sword and helped Lillian beat back the mob. Lillian holstered her gun and jumped down the sewer.

Rick followed her with a thump, and she looked up at him, "Dr. Bay?" she asked.

"He said "go,"" Rick murmured, and Lillian shot a look to the man's nephew.

"Oh."

* * *

_I realize that it was never said that Ardeth and Dr. Bey were related, and that they sometimes spell Dr. Bey with an 'E' and sometimes with an 'A', but I like writing families so I made them related. Whatever._

_Review?_


	19. Carry Him

"_Sinbad was sailing around one day and his ship was destroyed in a storm," Rick told Lillian as she rested her head on his shoulder in their newest orphanage. "And when he fell into the ocean the Old Man of the Sea spotted him, and decided to make Sinbad his slave. The Old Man of the Sea worked Sinbad hard- forcing Sinbad to carry him around on his shoulders all day and night, the Old Man's legs wrapped around Sinbad's throat and refusing to let go. Sinbad was ready to die to escape slavery, but came up with a clever plan."_

"_What plan?"_

"_He made some wine and convinced the Old Man to drink it. And, the Old Man drank so much, that he got drunk and fell asleep. While he was sleeping, Sinbad snuck up and killed the Old Man, thereby guaranteeing his freedom."_

"_That's why you shouldn't drink so much wine," Lillian remarked solemnly._

"_Guess so, Lil."_

* * *

It was a solemn group that piled into Jonathan's car once the coast was clear.

"Winston?" Lillian asked Rick, one eyebrow raised.

"Winston," he gave a nod.

"Just who is this Winston chap?" Jonathan asked, confused.

"Just get us to the Royal Air Force station in Giza, you'll see," Rick slapped Jonathan on the back.

"Right, here we go, R.A.F.!"

Dawn peaked over the dunes as they pulled up, getting out of the car and hiking up a dune to where Captain Winston Havlock sat, sipping tea and listening to music on his gramophone.

"Good morning, Winston!" Rick shouted up at the man. "Uh- a word?"

Winston greeted them all, including Lillian (who he gave a wink to- he was always amused by the story of her time as O'Donnell. Winston was one of the few in on the secret at the time, when he met Rick and Lillian while they were fighting in the French Foreign Legionnaires.) and got down to business once Rick made it clear he wanted Winston to fly them.

"So, what's your little problem got to do with his Magesty's Royal Air Corpe?" Winston asked, toasting Rick with his teacup.

"Not a damn thing," Rick shook his head.

Winston was immediately alert, putting his cup to the side, his eyes beginning to sparkle, "Is it dangerous?" he asked.

"Well you probably won't live through it," Lillian told him, her hand still resting on Haytham's shoulder as the boy tried to wander off to take a closer look at the plane.

"By Jove," Winston leaned forward in his chair, "Do you really think so?"

"Well, everybody else we've bumped into has died, why not you?" Jonathan told the man, Ardeth standing in the midst of them all and looking confused by the turn this conversation had taken.

"What's the, uh-," Winston stood, looking at the O'Connells, "What's the challenge then?"

"Rescue the damsel in distress," Rick began.

"Kill the bad guy," Lillian chimed in.

"Save the world," they finished in unison, shrugging.

Winston laughed merrily, "Well, Winston Havlock, at your service, sir, ma'am," he gave the two a salute.

"Did you know," he turned to the other three, "These two are the craziest bloody fighters I've ever seen. Not only did O'Connell dash headlong into the fight, oh no, Lillian had to dress herself up as a man and follow him! They're both bloody mad, but I'll be damned if I could think of any other pair I'd rather have on my side."

"You went into a battle?" Ardeth asked, looking at Lillian.

Haytham grinned, "Oh yeah! She disguised herself and followed Mr. Rick! They fought and then, when everyone else died, they wandered through the desert, all the way back to Cairo!"

"Well, not everyone else died," Lillian corrected, "Beni lived." She turned to Rick, "You should've let me shoot him when I had the chance," she shook her head.

Rick shrugged, "Seemed like stopping you was a good idea at the time. Watching you snipe at him was the only entertainment in the damn garrison."

"So here's the real question," Lillian turned to face Winston's Biplane, squinting in the sunlight, "How's Winston's two-person plane going to carry…well, six people?"

"Easy, Winston flies, I take the gun, we strap Jonathan and Ardeth to the wings on either side, and you and Haytham stay out of trouble," Rick told his sister.

One eyebrow raised, Lillian contemplated whether or not she wanted to fight this. She certainly didn't want Haytham coming after Imhotep with her, but she didn't want to be sitting around twiddling her thumbs either.

"Well, ok, then what do Haytham and I do to help?" she settled on saying. Lillian tried not to smirk when her brother let out a sigh of relief and her acceptance.

"I want to help!" Haytham chimed in, eager to be a hero.

"You can send a message to my tribe," Ardeth said, stepping forward, "We need them to be prepared should we fail. It is a difficult journey, however, to find the Medjai. They will not be easy to locate."

"Trust me," Lillina interrupted, "I know my way through the desert, just tell me where they'll be and I'll find them. Do you have anything we should give them or tell them to prove that we come from you?"

"Yes," he nodded, taking a necklace from around his throat and placing it in Lillian's hand, she examined it- it was simple leather string tied on either end of a metal symbol that was pretty large for a necklace- it almost filled Lillian's whole palm. She looked closer, it was well-worn, any light embossing rubbed away with time, and it felt weighty in her hand. "Show this, and they will know you come from me with my blessing and protection," Lillian looked up at the Medjai and nodded her understanding.

"We'll get there," Lillian swore to him, "And make sure that your people are prepared."

"I thank you," Ardeth gave her a bow, one hand pressed over his heart.

"Winston," she called briskly, "I need two camels."

"Yes, lassie, that I can do," he grinned, moustache twitching.

Rick and Ardeth both followed Lillian as she made sure Haytham was secure on his camel before mounting her own, the two men trying to give final instructions. Or rather, Rick was hovering, and Ardeth was giving last minute tips on finding the Medjai.

"Alright you two, shut it," she finally said, turning away, "Don't get killed or I will be mighty pissed with you, Rick O'Connell!" she called over her shoulder as she and Haytham road out of the R.A.F. station.

"We'll find the Medjai," Haytham told her, a grin across his face, "No problem. After all, you and Mr. Rick made it through the desert once with no camels, no food, no nothing!"

"Let's not do that again," Lillian nodded, "But yes, we'll find them. And the bad guy will be stopped."

"That's cuz you and Mr. Rick are the heroes," Haytham nodded, "They always win in the stories."

"And I'm still not sure how that happened," Lillian muttered.

* * *

_Drop a review?_


	20. The End

"_So you want to hear another story about Sinbad, huh?" Rick chuckled at Haytham's eager face. "Alright then, sit down and I'll tell you one."_

"_Which one?" Haytham asked, sitting as he was told._

"_Sinbad's last voyage," Rick nodded, "He got shipwrecked, again, cuz clearly this guy didn't understands that he and ships didn't mesh real well. He came into a town were, once a month, everyone turned into massive birds, and flew up to the highest peaks, except for the king and his daughter. Now, Sinbad went up to see the king and fell in love with the Princess. That's when he found out- the bird-people weren't really the King's subjects, but demons that took over them. The King and Princess were only safe because of ancient magic in the walls of the castle. Sinbad didn't want the girl he loved in such a dangerous place, so he offered to deal with the demons. The Princess was pretty upset, and thought Sinbad was going to die- she was in love with him too. So, before he left, she asked him to marry her, so if he should die fighting the bird-people, she would at least be allowed the memories of blah blah blah, you know," he gestured with his hand as Haytham waited for him to get on with what the boys considered the better part of the story, "So they got married and Sinbad set out to save the day. Now, Sinbad wandered back out of the city and found two men, who told Sinbad they had a magical staff, made of pure gold, that was blessed by Allah. Sinbad asks them for the staff so he could beat the demons inhabiting the city, and the two men handed it over after Sinbad promised them they could visit the castle anytime. _

"_Sinbad went back into the city, creeping along, and saw one bird-person about to take off. Grabbing onto its leg, Sinbad was carried into the sky all the way up to the mountain peak that the bird-people flew to every month. Sinbad swore he could almost hear angels up there, and saw there were angels- fighting back the bird-people, who were trying to take over. Sinbad shouted out to the commander of the angels and tossed him the staff, which began to glow, and with the might of the magical staff, the angels defeated the bird-people._

"_Thanking Sinbad for all his help, one of the angels brought Sinbad back to his wife who was real happy to see him. After that, people came to the city to live under the good King and soon it was full and prosperous again. When the King died, Sinbad and his wife became King and Queen, and they lived happily ever after. The end."_

"_So Sinbad became king! But he was a sailor!"_

"_Yup, but he worked his way up, besides- with all the shipwrecks, I don't think Sinbad was really that great a sailor."_

* * *

Lillian couldn't help let loose a sigh when she saw the tents of the Medjai ahead of her. Though she'd never admit it, the desert people were more than a little challenging to find. She made sure to make Haytham swear never to tell Ardeth.

They rode into the center of all the village and hopped off their camels. People all around were coming out of their tents, talking, examining the strangers, and several men pulled out their swords and rifles.

Both Lillian and Haytham raised their hands.

"Please," Lillian said, "Ardeth Bay sent us- I can prove it," when she felt sure no one was going to shoot her for moving, she took Ardeth's necklace out of her pocket, holding it up for everyone to see, "He sends a message."

"That is my son's necklace," a woman said, striding forward, "But you are you, to be sent among us?"

"My name is Lillian O'Connell, and I've been working with your son to try and stop the Creature. This is Haytham," she nodded at the boy, whose eyes were wide and looking everywhere among the Medjai camp.

"I am Asra Bay, come with me," the woman gestured towards a tent. Lillian followed the woman, passing through the crowd that parted ways. "My son is a Medjai chieftain and does not trust strangers lightly," Asra said, settling down inside the tent, gesturing for Lillian and Haytham to sit as well. "These," she waved her hand at twelve men who sat in a semi-circle, "Are the elders. So, what is your message?"

"Ardeth told me to warn you to prepare yourselves- he and my brother along with some allies are currently facing the creature, but, if he should fail, he wanted me to get the message to your people in time to prepare."

"The creature," one man nodded, "Tell me, is he fully regenerated?"

"Yes," Lillian nodded, "And he's trying to raise Anck-su-namun from the grave again, sacrificing a friend of mine. They're at Hamunaptra."

"The City of the Dead," another man murmured, "And Ardeth Bay has followed it there?"

"Yes," Lillian nodded, "He's with my brother and another man. They plan to find the golden Book of Amun-Ra. They believe that, if they read from it, it will kill the creature, just like the black Book of the Dead raised him."

"We must speak to the commanders," the first man told her, "Thank you, for your pains in warning us."

"It wasn't a problem," Lillian nodded, "We're all a part of the world, it would hurt everyone should the creature succeed. And I'm not interested in the rest of the plagues coming about," she cast a look at Haytham from the corner of her eye.

Asra lead Lillian and Haytham out of the tent, "The plagues- we've seen flies, lice, locusts, darkness, and water turned to blood tell me-."

"If you've had lice, then there's only two plagues left," Lillian swallowed, "Diseased livestock and death of the first born."

"I fear my first born shall die even if the plagues are halted," Asra looked across the sands towards where Hamunaptra lay, "Ardeth will give his all to stop this creature."

Lillian nodded, "If it helps, my brother? He's never lost a fight yet."

"He is a warrior then?"

"We both fought together in the French Foreign Legionnaires, but we've been fighting our whole lives," Lillian shrugged, "I don't like the idea he's fighting now without me."

"You do have the look of a warrior about you," the older woman nodded, "And so does your boy- though he is as yet untrained."

The women turned as they noticed a group of warriors preparing to ride to Hamunaptra and Asra noticed how Lillian's hands went to settle on her weapons, her eyes flickering between Haytham who has found some Medjai children and is talking their ears off and the warriors preparing to ride off.

"I will watch your boy," Asra told her, "I think perhaps you should make sure your brother and my son return from this endeavor alive."

"I-," Lillian tried to shake her head, but the Medjai woman place a hand on her arm, stopping her.

"You belong, as warriors do, with your brother in battle."

Lillian stared at Asra Bay for a long moment, "So that's where Ardeth gets it from," she muttered before dashing off to join the warriors.

They rode fast and hard, the Medjai spurring their horses on, Lillian beginning to pull ahead on a camel. They reached Hamunaptra and saw the city sinking, falling into the sand.

After a pause of a heartbeat, they rushed forward, looking for any survivors.

Jumping off her camel, Lillian began to yell, "Rick! Evie! Jonathan! Rick! Ardeth! Anyone! Rick!"

She heard a grunt off to her left and spun, jumping forward and falling on her knees to begin digging.

"Rick?" she called, "Ardeth? Jonathan? Evie?" sand slipped through her fingers as she dug faster and faster, eventually uncovering a hand, covered in a tattoo, reaching upwards with a tattered black sleeve. "Ardeth!" she shouted, causing the Medjai to rush over and help her dig.

The slowly pulled the chieftain out of the sand, pulling him as he cough sputtered and kicked.

"The creature?" he immediately asked, looking at Lillian for answers.

"Given that the city is sinking I'd say he's not a problem," she shouted, helping him up as the Medjai ran for their horses, "Where's Rick?" she asked Ardeth, who stumbled beside her as she lead him out.

"I do not know," he shook his head, "I separated from them to draw of Imhotep's priests- he is probably still in the city!"

Lillian practically dropped Ardeth right there, "I have to go back!"

Ardeth grabbed her as she turned, "There is nothing you can do!" he shouted at the girl, "It is sinking too fast now, you will never find him and will get yourself buried alive! Trust your brother to find his way back to you!"

As much as she hated to admit it, Ardeth was right, and she went back to helping the Medjai flee the sinking city, her eyes, though, were glued on Hamunaptra, looking for any trace of her brother.

The city sank, and Lillian cried out, pointing. There, a few hundred feet away, were three fleeing figures- Rick, Evelyn, and Jonathan.

"I told you to trust in your brother," Ardeth grinned at her.

Ardeth was helped onto his horse and Lillian jumped onto her camel, and they road towards the three.

The roar of the city falling was loud enough where none of the group heard Ardeth and Lillian approach, and they were practically on top of the three when Ardeth reached down a hand to clasp Jonathan's shoulder.

All three shrieked in surprise, Jonathan placing a hand over his pounding heart.

"Oh, thank you," he groused, "Thank you very much."

"Rick!" Lillian shouted, jumping into her brother's arms, "You're safe, oh my god I'm going to kill you for scaring me like that!"

"Wouldn't that defeat the whole me-safe purpose?" Rick asked with a grin.

"Thank you," Ardeth told the four, nodding solemnly, "You have earned the respect and gratitude of me and my people," he grinned.

"Yes, well," Jonathan chuckled, still trying to slow his heartrate, "It was- it was nothing."

"May Allah smile upon you always," he gave a blessing gesture.

"And…" Jonathan waved a cross in the air with his finger, "Yourself."

Ardeth was turning away when Lillian's voice stopped him. "Uh," she called out, "Don't think that's the end of it," Ardeth turned to look back at her, "We've gotta go back with you- Haytham is currently with your mother."

"He has a mother?" Rick asked, looking at Lillian incredulously, "I thought he just sort of…grew up out of the sand."

Evelyn rolled her eyes.

Ardeth waited for them all to mount camels, chatting.

"Well," Jonathan sighed, looking over where Hamunaptra and all its treasures used to be, "I guess we go home empty-handed. _Again_."

"I wouldn't say that," Rick looked at Evelyn, who returned his gaze and leaned in for a kiss.

"Oh, please," Jonathan groused while Lillian turned away with a "Ew! My _eyes_!" Jonathan grabbed his camel, "How about you, darling?" he asked it, "A little kissy wissy?" Before backing away from the animal's nasty breathe.

"Alright, for Haytham's sake I'm going to insist we ride off into the sunset now," Lillian shouted to break her brother and Evelyn apart.

"Lil," Rick smirked at her, "That's what I've been planning all along."

* * *

_And that's the story. Whew. First multi-chapter fic I've ever actually completed. Helped that it was only one movie rather than a tv show or an entire series of movies...yeah. Either way, thanks for reading, ect. Hope you enjoyed!_

_One last review before you go? :)_


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